


Silence

by twdeadfanfic



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Deaf Character, Deaf Reader, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Shy Daryl Dixon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24374878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twdeadfanfic/pseuds/twdeadfanfic
Summary: After getting captured trying to hunt the men that raided her camp and killed her people, reader is rescued by Daryl, Glenn and Maggie, who take her with them and to their camp, and soon, reader is going to be surprised to find that the man witht he crossbow, who at first she deemed someone dangerous to keep an eye on, is rather shy and awkward around her, but sweet in his way too, and she can’t help but want to get to know him more. Between season 2 and 3.I had a request for  a deaf reader and it inspired me to write this mini-series.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon & You, Daryl Dixon & reader, Daryl Dixon/Reader, Daryl Dixon/You
Comments: 47
Kudos: 169





	1. Chapter 1

The breeze made you shudder as you rummaged through one of the cars that blocked the road. Autumn was already there and you were in need of clothes, your legging, tank top, and thin shirt didn’t do much to protect you from the cold that was coming and that would get worse in winter…if you made it that long.

No, you couldn’t think like that, of course you were going to make it. You were a survivor. You had made it this long. The only one from your group that was still alive, as far as you knew.

You had lost your mother and sister pretty early during the outbreak, but you had managed to flee the town with your neighbors, meeting some people on the way, setting camp in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, close to the woods, where your little group of ten people had survived by hunting, scavenging and killing the walkers that got too close, luckily not many of them, all of you learning skills from each other, turning into better survivors, into the kind of people you needed to be to survive in this new world. 

You had been with those people during summer, until a week or so ago, until you saw them slaughtered not by monsters but by men.

A group of three men had arrived at your camp, asking for help, and you all had taken them in. You shouldn’t. They didn’t seem to have weapons on them, seeming harmless, but after your group lowered their guard, they were joined by five other men with guns and shotguns, and all of them had begun attacking your people. They wanted your warehouse and your supplies, and they didn’t seem to care about who they killed to get it.

That was the first time you’d killed someone, sinking your knife into the throat of one of the men who had grabbed you, trying to protect your people, but they’d better weapons, and you’d seen most of your friends getting slaughtered next to you. The commotion had drawn a group of walkers, and then everything had become even more chaotic.

You’d taken a look at your fallen friends and at the monsters, and you’d run away from the chaos. One of the men had shot you, the bullet grazing your arm, leaving you with a wound that had infected, and that still hadn’t totally healed, but you were taking care of it.

That reminded you, besides clothes you needed to look for a first aid kit, or some disinfectant, anything like that. You still hadn’t found anything useful, when a certain smell caught your attention, one that by that now you knew very well, the smell of the death.

Smells are something curious. A new smell always catches your attention, makes you notice it, but when you are surrounded by it for a long while, you become used to it to the point you don’t notice it anymore. In this new world, that was dangerous.

And so, you’d trained yourself to never get used to the smell of the walkers, no matter it was everywhere. Now you could notice when it was close, when it was too intense, by now the smell of the dead triggered something in your brain that made you go attack or flee mode, knowing that danger was close.

Not being able to hear what was happening around you, you gotta rely on other things to survive. You were observant. You had always been, but now even more. It meant the difference between life and death. Your instincts were pretty good, if you may say so yourself. Training yourself to notice the subtle changes on the smells around, to notice the tiniest movements, had probably been one of your best ideas, and had saved you from being ambushed by walkers a few times by now.

And so when you noticed the stench of the walkers in the air, you rushed out of the car you were in and looked around. You saw a group of them ahead on the road, but they were far enough to not have spotted you. Taking your backpack, you rushed back into the woods.

You went back to your camp, if you could call it that. It was just a tiny square that you had made tying wire to four trees so if walkers approached they would get trapped on it. No one of them had stumbled into it for now, and you were grateful for it, you weren’t sure it would work. You allowed yourself a few hours of sleep each night, hoping the wire would stop the walkers and your brain would wake you up if it noticed the smell, but you weren’t sure you would actually wake up before walkers got you, and if they wouldn’t just tear through the wire. Still, you knew you needed to sleep.

You never stayed at the same place for more than a night, looking for supplies and shelter, but still you hadn’t had luck, and you were running out of water. You tried to stay hopeful, being negative would only get you more trouble, but you knew you couldn’t keep going like that for long, you needed to find supplies. You went to check one of your traps and you grinned when you found it had caught a rabbit. You gave thanks to the friend who had taught you to do that, dead now, you would be starving by now if she hadn’t.

You hung the rabbit to your belt for later, carefully unwrapped the wire, getting it into your backpack, and began walking again, wishing today were the day in which you’d find shelter.

You’d been walking for a while through the woods when something caught your eye, some movement ahead, but the smell of walkers wasn’t close. You hid in some bushes as best as you could, right in time to see a man walking past your hiding spot. You recognized him instantly, he was one of the men who had killed your friends. Your blood seemed to burn and you considered killing him, but you only had your knife and the man, who was taller and bulkier than you, was walking with a machete on hand. 

Once you thought he was far enough, you left your hiding spot and kept walking, but soon you had to hide again when you found a camp, another three of the men who had destroyed yours there. They were more before, and you wished they had been devoured by walkers. You wanted to kill them, but you only had your knife and they were more than you, you knew it was suicide… You glared at then with hatred but suddenly you felt something hitting your head and everything turned black 

Your first thought once you woke up was that probably you should have guessed the men would have someone taking watch. You had been careless and now you’d pay for it. Your realized that your hands were tied painfully behind your back and around a stake, so you couldn’t try to leave and could barely move. 

There were five men around you, nodding at you as they noticed you coming back to consciousness. They were talking and laughing, and you didn’t know what were they saying, but you thought they were saying something to you too. 

One of them approached you, kneeling in front of you on the ground and roughly grabbing your chin, saying something to you, and you struggled free of his grasp, growling, but the man just laughed. 

Then he was between your legs, hand on your thigh, and you didn’t like where this was going so you struggled again, straining against your ropes and kicking at the man as much as you could and screaming at the top of your lungs, or at least you hoped you were screaming. Maybe you could draw walkers there, they would kill you but hopefully, they’d eat some of those men too. 

It seemed like you were indeed screaming, because the man slapped you hard and before you could do anything, he was slamming your head against the tree by your throat, making it hard to breathe, and he pointed his knife at your face, yelling something at you. 

Then he was falling against you and you were very sure you yelped. You realized he was dead, a bolt embedded in the back of his head, and you looked around wildly. What was going on. 

The men seemed to be wondering the same, everyone was looking around, rushing to take their guns. For a moment, you didn’t see anything, but then a wild-looking man was walking from behind some threes, a crossbow pointed in front of him, followed by a woman who was holding a riffle and an asian man with a gun. 

Whoever those people were, they pointed their weapons at the men, and they did the same, and you didn’t know what was going to happen, if they were all going to shoot at each other while you were still tied to a tree. 

There were some words, you thought, harsh words, some man pointed at you, more words, for a moment it seemed they were all going to actually start shooting at each other, but then they didn’t. The men picked some of their stuff and rushed away from there. You growled. They should be killed. But you guessed these people hadn’t wanted to risk a bloodbath. 

The man of the crossbow approached you while the other two people registered the camp. He looked dangerous as his blue eyes studied you, and you wondered what was going to happen to you now. He took out his knife and you began to struggle against your ropes, panicking, but the man was saying something to you and cutting the ropes that tied you to the tree. 

Once you were free you didn’t lose a second to crawl and look for a weapon, you didn’t know where your knife was so you took the dead man’s knife and gun, but then the crossbow was pointed at you, and you didn’t know what to do. The man’ s eyes studied you, and then he lowered the crossbow slowly, saying something to you, while his friends approached him.

You lowered your weapons to the ground too and then pointed your finger to your ear and dragged it to your chin, trying to tell them you were deaf, but they just looked at you, then at each other, and back at you. You pointed at your ears and then made a ‘no’ sign with your hands, hoping they would get it. It seemed to work, the woman nodded and she said something to the men before approaching you, holding her hands in front of her as if trying to show you she wouldn’t hurt you. 

She kneeled down next to you and you both stared at each other. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, as if she were to say something but didn’t, and you raised and lowered your hands a couple of times, as if you were to sign something but didn’t. You couldn’t hear her and she didn’t understand signs. This was ridiculous. You both seemed to feel the same, as you both stared at each other again and laughed quietly at the silliness of it all. 

You pointed at her mouth, trying to show her you could read lips a bit, and she nodded. “Wait”, she mouthed. Reaching out, she grabbed her bag and took a notebook out of it. You smiled, having lost yours when you ran away from the men and walkers. It’d been so useful to communicate with your group, especially at first. 

“ _I’m Maggie”,_ she wrote down. 

_“Y/N”,_ You wrote. 

_“Are you alone?”_

You nodded and pointed to the dead men. “ _They killed my people_ ”, You wrote down, and you noticed the crossbow man hovering close, trying to read what you wrote.

‘” _I’m sorry_ ” Maggie gave you a small, sympathetic smile.

“ _Thank you for helping me,_ ” you wrote down, realizing they had actually saved you from everything those men were planning on doing to you. Maggie smiled again, shaking her head, mouthing an “it’s nothing.” You held the notebook and showed it to the crossbow man, pointing at it, he’d been the one who shot at the men who had you. The man just nodded once.

“Wait”, Maggie mouthed, and then she turned to the men, and they began talking again, going back and forth until Maggie was looking at you again. 

“ _We have a group. You can come with us_.’ She wrote down and you frowned, unsure. You didn’t know those people, they had saved you and Maggie seemed kind…but a group… Maggie noticed and she took the notebook, writing down for a little bit. “ _We won’t hurt you. We aren’t many and we don’t have shelter now. but we take care of each other.”_ She pointed at the man with the crossbow. _“Daryl,”_ then she pointed at the other men. “ _My boyfriend Glenn. We were scavenging when he heard your screams. If you want, you can come back with us.”_

You chewed on your lip while you read it all. You knew you couldn’t keep going alone like that, you wouldn’t survive for long alone, and Maggie seemed nice enough, buy now you also knew you couldn’t trust people. You didn’t know what to do. Finally, you nodded. You’d try your luck with them, it was better than risking finding more walkers, or men, that you couldn’t handle alone. Maggie smiled and you both got up. You looked from her to the men, standing there awkwardly, before Maggie nodded you to follow them. 

“ _We_ _lost my family’s farm a month ago and some people too.’_ She wrote down while you all walked. ‘ _We’ve been looking for shelter since them but walkers are everywhere_.”

You nodded and took the notebook. “ _I’m sorry_ ”. Maggie nodded and gave you a smile. Glenn came to walk next to Maggie, smiling kindly at you, and he really seemed like a good guy, not like the men who had killed your people. Daryl, though…it wasn’t like he looked like a bad guy, though he looked dangerous, wild, in contrast to Maggie and Glenn. He was sneaking glances at you from time to time, but he didn’t try to say anything to you.

You reached their camp, set in a clearing in the woods next to a path with a couple of cars and a bike parked on it. Everyone went to welcome them but stopped when they saw you. A man rushed to you all, and Maggie signaled you to wait while she, Glenn and Daryl talked to him, going back and forth for a while, until Maggie approached you again, taking the notebook. 

“ _That’s Rick. Kind of lead us_.” She wrote down. “ _We told him we found you in trouble and that you’ve lost your people so we offered to take you with us. You can stay if you want.”_

Maggie smiled to you when you finished reading, you nodded and placed your fingers, hand flat, under your lips before moving it forwad, saying thanks to that Rick man, though you weren’t sure he’d understand it. He just nodded but kept looking at you warily. It didn’t seem to you that he really agreed to you staying, he didn’t look like he wanted you to…but Maggie just smiled kindly at you, taking the notebook again.

“ _My father is a veterinarian but he can check your wounds and make sure you are alright_.” She wrote down and you smiled, grateful. Someone who could treat your wounds would feel great at that moment. You gave her a grateful smile and you wrote down a thank you and pointed at it before signing it to Maggie. She got what you meant, copying the sign and arching her eyebrows at you as if asking if she’d done it right, and you couldn’t help your smile as you nodded.

A woman with short gray hair approached you. ‘Hi, I’m Carol’, she signed to you, and you grinned excitedly. She could sign! When you began signing to her, though, she seemed confused and you stopped. She took the notebook. 

‘ _I can only say my name. Sorry._ ’ Carol wrote down, and you shrugged and smiled. 

Between her and Maggie, they introduced you to everyone else. Lori and Carl, the wife and son of Rick, Hershel and Beth, the father and the little sister of Maggie, and T-Dog. You also learned that Lori was pregnant. Like you, those people needed to find supplies and shelter. They seemed close, it really seemed they took care of one another. Maybe you could help them too, maybe you wouldn’t have to keep being alone. 

Daryl, who had been talking to Rick, approached and gave Carol a string of squirrels. The men who took you had taken your rabbit from your belt, but after a scoop around their camp before you all left, you had found it, and you handed it to Carol too. 

‘Thank you’, she mouthed slowly. You smiled and signed thank you to her. She copied your sign, mouthing another thank you and raising her eyebrows. You nodded, grinning. She got it too. Carol smiled and squeezed your shoulder before leaving. 

Daryl looked at you, and you looked at him, but he didn’t say anything and turned to follow Carol. You didn’t know what to do with yourself but then Hershel was approaching you, pointing at your wounds and signaling to you to follow him. He was a kind man, gentle with you, and after writing down what he was going to do, he began cleaning the bullet wound with water and then dabbing some disinfectant on it, making you hiss in pain.

After that, he checked your neck, which was bruised, but he wrote it’d feel better in a couple of days. You nodded, smiling gratefully. After making sure you were okay and didn’t need anything else, Hershel left you alone. You sat down on the ground, looking at everyone as you felt a bit out of place. 

While Hershel was tending to your wounds, you had noticed Daryl looking at you while he cooked with Carol, but when he noticed you looking, he looked away. He now approached, though, stopping in front of you, looking down at you but without moving or saying anything. He seemed awkward, and it was making you feel awkward too. You took the notebook and offered it to him, wondering if maybe he wanted to tell you something. Seeming hesitant, he took it and crouched down next to you. 

_“Hershel said you okay?”_ He wrote down, and then he pointed at your arm and at your bruised neck. You nodded, taking the notebook, looking for the page were you had written “Thank you” and you underlined the “you” before pointing it to Daryl. He shrugged, seeming a bit uncomfortable, and he took pen and paper again, but he seemed hesitant before he finally wrote down something again. _“You mute?”_

You shook your head and took the pen. _“Not easy to speak when you can’t hear.”_ Daryl just nodded and took the notebook to write _“Thought I heard you screaming”_. You nodded at that. It seemed your scream and Daryl hearing it had saved you. Daryl seemed to think for a little while before taking the pen again. _“You hunt?”_

When you shook your head, confused, he nodded to Carol and said something you were pretty sure was “the rabbit?” He went to take the pen again but you nodded, pointing at his mouth trying to let him now you understood him. 

_“Used a trap,”_ you wrote down, and Daryl nodded. He looked back and forth from you and the notebook. He still seemed hesitant with you, and you couldn’t help but wonder what he thought of you, seeming so awkward around you but coming to check on you. Maybe he didn’t trust you? Maybe he was trying to learn if you were a threat? He didn’t seem to be trying anything, though, he kind of seemed to be genuinely checking on you.

“You need something?” He said slowly, and you noticed that although he was trying to make sure you could read his lips, his eyes never met yours, looking down. Maybe he was just shy. You hadn’t thought he might be shy like that, dangerous and wild as he had seemed when you saw him.

But there he was now, checking on you without seeming threatening at all and without trying to interrogate you or anything like that, and making sure you understood him. It was a nice surprise. All that group was a nice surprise, and you were starting to see how lucky you had gotten to find them. 

Daryl was looking at you as if trying to see if you had understood him and he went to take the pen as if to write it down, so you signed to him you were okay. ‘Means okay?’ he mouthed as he imitated your sign, frowning, and you nodded and smiled. He got it…you liked that those people were already trying to pick up some signs when they’d just met you. He nodded too and hesitantly he tapped your shoulder awkwardly before getting up and walking to speak with Rick. 

You weren’t alone for long. Soon you were joined by Maggie and Carol, who came to check on you too, and then asked you to teach them some signs. You spent the next hour, until it was dinner time, signing with them, teaching them basic stuff and you were surprised with what a good time you were having with them, grateful at how eager they seemed to learn. 

While dining squirrel stew, you all sat down around a campfire, besides Glenn and Maggie, who were taking watch together. People were curious about you, and so you wrote them a bit about yourself, asking them to write you things about them too, basic stuff, trying to get to know each other a bit better. They seemed a tight group, and even though they had been kind to you, you still felt like an outsider. Rick kept eyeing you warily, making you a bit nervous, but you understood it. 

After dinner, Rick began speaking, and Carol wrote down for you what he was saying: As soon as the sun were up, you all would get moving again, hoping to find shelter or at the very least supplies. Glenn had found a shopping mall on a map, and he wanted to go and check it, and so you all would be moving in the morning. It seemed you had been included and taken in by that group, and you were grateful for it. It seemed they had suffered too, even though they hadn’t gotten into detail, and so you were grateful they had decided to trust you. 

Everyone had better clothes for the cold than you, but they gave you a spare blanket and you wrapped yourself with it, thankful, the chill night air making you shiver. Carl and Lori were sleeping inside one of the cars, and so were Beth and Hershel. They offered you a spot too, since you were less cold there, but you shook your head, they had done enough. 

Instead, you chose a spot on the ground near the fire to curl up for the night. Some part of you told you that maybe this was too good to be true, maybe they were going to murder you in your sleep or something, but you were so tired, your guard slightly down now that you had people around to tell you if walkers were near, that almost as soon as you curled up on the ground, you fell asleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

You woke up the next morning when the sun began to rise, safe and sound, nobody had killed you in your sleep. You felt bad for having thought such thing about the kind people who had taken you in, but you’d learned that in this world, it was risky to trust people blindly. 

You sat up and looked around. Some were awake, some were still asleep. Rick seemed to be patrolling around, looking at you when he noticed you sitting up. You wrote in your notebook what you wanted to tell him and then you got up and walked towards him, showing him the page.

“ _Thanks for_ _taking me in_. _I_ _understand why you don’t trust me. Last time I trusted someone my people died_. _But your friends saved me and I’ll help you all as much as I can”_

Rick nodded and took the notebook. _“They told me. I’m sorry about your people.”_ He gave you the notebook back and walked away. You weren’t sure if you were making progress or not at getting him to warm up to you, you hoped he’d see you were trustworthy. 

You saw Daryl approaching and you gave him a smile. He looked down and nodded. He opened his mouth as if to say something but didn’t, and for a second you thought he was going to take the notebook but he lowered the hand he’d lifted. It seemed he wasn’t sure of what to do or how to behave with you. You were confused, but you also thought he was kind of cute, different from the first idea you had gotten of him. 

Finally he looked at you, raising his eyebrows and pointing at your arm bandage and neck bruises before signing what was almost an ‘okay’ but not quite. You nodded, repeating the okay sign both to reply to his question and to show him again how the sign was done. He frowned and did it again, this time perfectly, and you nodded and grinned. Daryl reached out as if to take the notebook but he seemed hesitant, and so you gave it to him. 

_“Hurt?”_ He wrote down and you took the notebook to write, _“not much. Nothing I can’t handle. Thanks to you all.”_ Daryl just shrugged shyly and when you gave him a smile he looked away…he really could be cute.

He took the notebook again and wrote down _“You need something?”_ passing you the notebook back and chewing on his lips, averting his eyes from you before catching himself and looking at you again so he could see your answer.

You shook your head but then something came to your mind, and you wrote down, _“I think Rick doesn’t trust me. I understand it. But I wish he did.”_ Daryl nodded, taking the notebook to write, “ _he will.”_ You took the notebook again. “ _How you know you can trust me_?” You couldn’t help but ask.

Daryl just shrugged, looking down as if shy, but then he looked at you so you could read his lips. “Just do,” he mouthed, shrugging again, and you grinned at him. Whatever it was that made Daryl think you were trustworthy, you were grateful for it. A small, crocked smile tugged at Daryl’s lip, and he reached out to squeeze your shoulder before walking towards Rick.

*

Soon, you all got going to the place where Glenn wanted to go scavenging. Carol got behind Daryl on his bike, and you went with Glenn, Maggie, Beth and Hershel on their car, driving for a couple of hours. You stopped the vehicles at distance from where you could see the shopping mall, smaller than you all had thought, but from a safe distance in case there were walkers around. 

You tried to understand what everyone was saying as they made plans. Glenn, Maggie, Daryl and Rick would go check the mall while the others stayed behind, T-Dog and Carol on watch duty to make sure no walker got too close to the cars. Rick also thought that if the mall was safe enough, maybe you could spend there a few days. Notebook in hand, you approached Rick. 

“ _I’ll help_ ,” you wrote down and Rick arched a brow at you, looking you up and down. You didn’t know if take offense. “ _I’ve put down walkers before. I can aim and shoot. I can stab them too.”_ You had made sure to learn how to fight walkers as soon as possible, knowing that you needed it to survive. You rather didn’t fight them, the monsters were strong, and you’d rather put them down from away, but still, you could fight if needed, if it wasn’t a group of those things.

Rick was still just frowning at you and so you took your gun from the holster, shaking it in front of his face. “ _Don’t got bullets. Give me one. I’ll prove it to you.”_ You scribbled grumpily, almost pushing the notebook in Rick’s face in your hustle, frowning at him. Rick arched his eyebrow again, but he smirked, shrugging and mouthing an okay.

He gave you more than one bullet, though, enough for your charger, and also a silencer, which was welcomed but rather unexpected, and you smiled at him. He nodded and gestured to everyone to get going. Daryl walked near you, tugging at your elbow to get your attention, and then he signed you an okay to which you nodded. You wanted to be useful and prove to these people that you were trustworthy, and that you weren’t useless even though they had to rescue you.

As you approached the mall you were overwhelmed by the stench of dead and rottenness. Your were on alter, but soon you realized it didn’t come from walkers, but from the half rotten, dead bodies on the ground. You all looked at each other but kept walking anyway, walking into the mall through a broken crystal door. If you were to stay there, you should fix that. 

You were welcomed by an even more intense smell, half-rotten and half-eaten corpses everywhere. It seemed a big group of people had taken refuge in there and had ended badly. You didn’t know about the others, but you didn’t feel like staying there, even if you were able to clean all the mess and fix the doors. 

It seemed Rick, Daryl, Maggie and Glenn were used to work the four together, and they were already dividing into pairs to check the area. Rick turned to you as if remembering you were there, and signaled to you to follow him and Daryl. 

As you followed them, you noticed two walkers munching on a corpse in one of the aisles, its back to you. You had to walk near them, and so you decided it could be time to prove your worth, or at least, that you could shoot when needed, and so you aimed your gun, pressed the trigger, and one of the walkers dropped dead.

The other one turned its head to look at you, but before you could shoot again, an arrow embedded into its forehead. You turned around and saw Rick looking at you, Daryl next to him with his crossbow, lowering it and walking to retrieve the arrow. You signed him a thanks and went to follow him, but Rick tugged at your elbow so you looked at him, passing him your notebook when he pointed at your pocket.

“ _You can shoot_ ,” he wrote down and you rolled your eyes. “ _Told you so_ ,” you wrote back, and Rick said nothing, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he looked at you. Maybe he was warming up to you? You had no idea, you hoped so, but you also hoped he stopped thinking you couldn’t do anything. Daryl was looking back at you both, noticing you weren’t following, and he asked something that seemed a “What?” Both Rick and you shook your heads and walked to him.

As you kept checking the place you found more corpses on the ground, blood everywhere. The place seemed almost emptied too, as if it had been raided. You had thought those people had been killed by walkers, but now you wondered if maybe they hadn’t been murdered by other people who wanted their stuff. It was too horrible to think. 

When you found some aisles with clothes you pocked Rick’s shoulder to catch his attention and signaled from you to the shelves, you wanted to check the clothes, maybe find you something more suited for the cold weather than what you were wearing. You missed the heavy shawl you had lost when you fled your camp and that had been your sister’s. 

Rick and Daryl exchanged a couple of sentences you couldn’t understand, they talked fast and without looking at you, and then Rick began walking towards another part of the mall while Daryl stayed with you. You guessed Rick would be good alone, and signed from Daryl to one of the clothes aisles and from you to the other, so he’d check one while you checked the other. He seemed hesitant for a second, but then he nodded. 

As you walked down the aisle you grew more and more disappointed, there was almost nothing left and the sizes weren’t good for you. You took some trousers, the material felt warm and the waist was elastic, so you hoped they’d suit you. You kept looking around, trying to see if there was anything else that you thought could be good for any of your new friends. 

You found a couple of jackets that would be better for the cold than your thin shirt. One of the jackets was definitely too small, and you tried the other one but it was too tight on your arms, you couldn’t move them freely, but you took it anyway, maybe it could suit Beth. 

You looked around and noticed Daryl trying to catch your attention. You walked to him and he handed you a long coat made of warm, gray wool. You gave Daryl a grateful smile and signed him a thanks before trying on the coat. It was bigger than your size, but you loved how the material felt and how warm it was. You nodded to Daryl, grinning, and he nodded back, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile. You thought it was the first time you saw him smile. It suited him. 

You were again alone, checking a shelf, though you knew that Daryl wasn’t far, when something grabbed you hard. You gasped, turning fast and grabbing the walker in time so it wouldn’t bite you, struggling to hold it just with one hand so you could stab it, but then the walker was being pulled away from you. You realized it was Daryl, dragging the walker back, but before he could put it down or the walker could struggle, you rushed and sank your knife into its head.

You were panting, looking from the corpse to Daryl, who was looking at you with wide, worried eyes. “Are you okay?!” You were pretty sure he said, before he caught himself and signed you an okay, to which you nodded, trying to calm down. Daryl arched an eyebrow, looking over you, and so you nodded again.

You lifted your hand to clean your knife when you noticed a tear on the shelve of your new coat. Damn it. You frowned, taking the notebook to write down your annoyment, _“it ripped my new coat_.” You showed it to Daryl and he took the notebook from your hand “ _better the coat than you_.” He was still looking at you worriedly and you nodded, giving him a small smile before signing him thanks. Daryl nodded back at you, reaching to squeeze your shoulder before turning to keep checking the shelves.

You chewed on your lip before deciding to tug at Daryl’s vest. He turned to look at you questioningly and you began to write, angling the notebook so he could read while you wrote. “ _I promise I’m not useless,”_ you wrote down, looking at him a bit embarrassed, and Daryl frowned at you. “ _Second time you have to help me…”_

Daryl shook his head, taking the notebook from your hand. _“You are not useless.”_ You looked at him doubtfully, unsure if he was being honest, and Daryl tapped the notebook with the pen before writing again. _“You can shoot. Got good aim. Grabbed that walker right too.”_ His handwritten was getting rushed, but you got it, and you smiled at him, nodding and signing him a thanks. Daryl nodded back, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, and he reached to squeeze your shoulder before pushing at you gently to walk beside him.

By the time you went to find Rick again, you both were carrying an assortment of mismatched gloves, hats and scarves, along with a couple of oversized shirts that you hoped would suit almost everyone. Rick had with him a bag with a big camping tent and you wondered who would be the ones using it, his family you guessed. He also had found more wire, rope, and some boxes of matches. 

You three met with Glenn and Maggie at the main doors. They had gone through the drug store and judging by how disappointed they looked, they didn’t seem to have found much. There hadn’t been antibiotics or disinfectant left, or nothing like that, just some packages of band-aids, bandages and gauze, and a more than welcome little first aid kit. 

Back with the others, Rick explained how you couldn’t stay in the mall and that you’d keep camping in the woods until you found something. You got an idea, but you weren’t sure it’d work. Taking the notebook, you wrote what you wanted to say to Rick and you approached him

_“My group and I lived in a warehouse, few_ _hours_ _drive from where you found me. When the men attacked us they drew walkers to the place, but maybe they left?”_

“Maybe”, Rick said, seeming thoughtful, before taking the notebook. _“We could try. We could get there before the sundown?”_ He wrote down. You weren’t sure, you had left it walking, not by car, and you signed him a maybe. _“We’ll check it tomorrow_ ”, Rick wrote before going to tell everyone else the idea. 

You saw Daryl leaving, getting further into the woods, and you guessed he was going hunting. You wished you had remembered to set a trap before going to the mall, maybe you could have hunt something. You watched as Rick got out the camping tent, but instead of getting it ready, he began to cut it until he had some long pieces of fabric that then he began tying to the trees, and you realized it’d make the cold wind hit your camp less hard, as long as it wasn’t too strong. Smart. 

That night you dinned on squirrel stew, sitting down around the campfire, and once again you began reviewing and teaching sings with Carol and Maggie. You noticed Daryl looking at you, but he didn’t join you. That night you took first watch with Rick, which you guessed was a sign of trust on his side, and as you patrolled the area, he had you explain him everything about your old camp and the warehouse, and you hoped it wasn’t still invaded by walkers. 

With the sunrise, you all got going, arriving at your camp by late afternoon. You could smell the dead, and soon you saw some walkers roaming around, but not enough to be a threat, you could overpower them, and you all got ready to fight. 

You shot at a couple of walkers, before getting your knife and putting down one that was approaching. You went to put down another, but as you looked at him, you realized it’d been one of your friends before, now dead and reaching for you. You froze in place and it grabbed you, growling, trying to bite you, so you put it down, feeling sick to your stomach. 

You saw Maggie running to you, and she reached out to squeeze your hand, mouthing a “you okay?” You nodded, eyes trained on the dead walker. Maggie signaled from you to the walker, looking at you with sad eyes as she seemed to realize what had happened. You nodded, blinking quickly, trying not to cry. 

You couldn’t stop your tears from falling, though, when you looked around at the dead walkers and half-eaten corpses that lied on the ground. Some were the men that had attacked you, but the others were your people. Carol approached you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders, and you leaned into her, grateful. Everyone was looking at you, seeming sorry, and Rick took the notebook to write down. 

“ _We dig some graves. We bury them._ ”

You nodded and signed him a thanks, rubbing your eyes, you didn’t want to keep crying. 

Before burying your dead, you all checked the warehouse. Walkers hadn’t gotten in, and you could keep staying in there. Most of your group supplies were still there, the men hadn’t had time to take them as they ran away from the walkers. 

“ _Take what you need_ ,” you wrote down, and Rick signed you thanks before squeezing your shoulder. You nodded to him and went to check your stuff. Your few clothes were there, all more appropriate for summer than for autumn and winter, though you had a shirt less thin than the one you’d been wearing. You also found your compass, which had been a gift from one of your now dead friends, a book, a few pens and your small notebook, that you could fit in the pocket of your shirt. 

Your sister’s shawl was there too, much to your relief, and you took off your new coat to wrap the shawl around you, as if it could bring you some comfort, almost as a hug, even though it had lost your sister’s scent long ago and had a couple of holes now. 

Once you went outside again, Rick and some of the others had covered the bodies with some fabric, and you were grateful for it. You realized that you didn’t have any shovel to dig the graves, you thought you had one but it was nowhere to be seen, and when you told Rick it seemed like he didn’t know what to do, so you decided you’d just burn the bodies. Rick and the others seemed to think it wasn’t good enough, but you shrugged. Your friends had been practical people, and you were sure they wouldn’t care about what happened to what was left of their bodies, they weren’t in there anymore, those were just dead bodies. They didn’t even look like themselves anymore. 

Besides, it wasn’t that different from cremation, and lots of people used to do that in the world before. You told yourself that as you got all the bodies together and ready, helped by Rick, T-Dog and Daryl. You couldn’t stop your tears again, and you were grateful nobody said anything. Daryl did look at you, opening and closing his mouth as if he were to say something, but he didn’t. 

As they burned, you felt Maggie’s hand holding yours. Your tears kept falling, but you were grateful for those people, who had taken you in and treated you as one of their own despite having known you for only a couple of days. The fire attracted a couple of walkers, but Daryl put them down before they could get close. 

Your new friends were practical people too, and so once the bodies had burned, they had paid their respects and gave you their condolences, everyone began to work on different chores. Daryl went hunting and you went a bit further into the woods too to set a trap. 

Back in the warehouse, you helped the others to move their things in, assorting everything along with what was already there. Some first aid-kits, some cans of food, some jars with water from the nearby river…you were pretty sure you would be good there for a while. Rick looked around at everything and grinned at you, signing you thanks. You guessed he must have been pretty stressed that month on the go without a place to settle down, considering he’d a small kid and Lori was pregnant. It was a bit comforting, to know that at least you could help those people. 

They seemed a bit reluctant to go through your late friends belongings, as if they thought it might upset or anger you, but trying to be practical, you began sorting clothes, trying to see what could suit them, even though most of them weren’t warm enough for the winter that was coming in less than a couple months, you thought. It was hard to keep the track of seasons. 

Once that was done, the sun was starting to go down and you went to check your trap. Nothing. You let out a disappointed sigh, frowning at the trap. Turning around, you noticed Daryl walking out of the woods and looking at you, a rabbit and some squirrels hanging from his belt. He hesitated for a moment but then approached you. 

Daryl opened his mouth as if to say something but didn’t, reached out as if to take the notebook that peeked out of your coat’s pocket but neither did he grab it. You cocked your head at him. He still didn’t seem to know how to approach you or talk to you, and you’d have taken offense if it weren’t because you also found it a bit cute how he seemed not to know how to act around you. You thought you had been right thinking he was shy. 

He was just standing there, frowning, before pointing at the trap and then signing an okay. You didn’t really understand what he meant, since you hadn’t caught anything, if maybe he thought it was a good trap or what. You raised your eyebrows at him, confused, and he reached out as if to take the notebook from your pocket but stopped midway, and so you took it out and handed it to him. 

_“Not your fault. We scared the game with the fire and noise.”_ He wrote down, and you nodded, giving him a small smile. Maybe he was right, you decided to let the trap there to see if you had caught something in the morning. Daryl nodded to you awkwardly and walked to the warehouse. You saw him sitting down on the stairs as he began to get the rabbit ready for cooking. 

You looked at Carol, who was sat down sorting some clothes. You were pretty sure she was Daryl’s best friend, along with Rick, probably. She and Daryl were always close, you’d seen them talking to each other, keeping watch together, and stuff like that. You approached her, sat down next to her, and took your notebook to write. 

“ _I think Daryl doesn’t know how to talk to me?_ ” Or maybe it was just that he actually didn’t like you…but you didn’t think that, he’d been checking on you, helping you out, had tried to make you feel better a couple of times already, had thought on you when he saw the warm coat, had learned a couple of signs…he’d been actually quite nice to you, now that you thought about it. 

Carol smiled, seeming amused, but also her smile was so fond that you couldn’t help your own. “ _Daryl doesn’t know how to talk to most people. Difficult for him to get used to them_ ”, she wrote down. _“He’s better at it now. He’s gone through stuff. But he’s a good man.”_

You nodded and smiled to her. Yeah, yeah, you thought he was. On his own, shy and awkward yet cute way. 


	3. Chapter 3

You couldn’t sleep that night. Everyone was happy to be sleeping under a roof, protected from the cold and walkers, and they’d drifted off to sleep, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t stop thinking about your dead friends. You could still see them there, at the warehouse, as if nothing had happened. You also couldn’t stop the flashes of images of their bodies as you had found them, what was left of them. You sniffed, rubbing your eyes, and decided to get up. You didn’t want the others to notice you crying, or to wake them up. 

Silently, you get out of the warehouse. T-Dog was on watch, patrolling the perimeter, and you tried not to be seen, walking to the back of the house, slightly away from it, hidden by some trees. You didn’t want T-Dog stumbling on you like that, you’d be embarrassed. Making sure there were no walkers around, you sat down on the ground, clutching your sister’s shawl to your heart, and began crying, hiding your face in the material. You couldn’t stop your tears anymore. 

Suddenly, you felt something squeezing your shoulder, and you jumped up, knife in hand, ready to stab the walker that you were sure was grabbing you, but when you turned around you found Daryl taking a couple of steps away from you. You both blinked at each other, and then Daryl awkwardly signed you a ‘sorry’. 

You nodded and wiped your tears, embarrassed, and then waited for him to say anything, but he didn’t, and you both just looked at each other awkwardly. Finally, Daryl signed you an ‘okay’ that was clearly a question. You shrugged and nodded, and he lifted his eyebrows at you. Obviously, he didn’t believe you. 

You took the small notebook from your pocket to explain yourself, _“thinking about my friends.”_ ’ Daryl took it, squinting to read it only illuminated by the moonlight, and then he signed another sorry and you nodded, but it didn’t seem to be good enough for him.

He took a lantern from his bag, turning it on, and then your notebook. “ _It’s dangerous to be out here._ ”

“ _I’m okay. Wanted to be alone._ ” You wrote by the light of his lantern, waiting until he was done reading to turn the lantern off and give it back to him. You didn’t feel like saying anything else.

Daryl looked at you and then nodded, turning around and walking away. You sat down on the ground again, thinking he was gone, but when you looked around you noticed him a few meters away, close enough to keep an eye on you but far enough to not bother you and give you privacy. 

You couldn’t help your smile, that went wider when you signed at him to approach you again and he looked back as if he thought you might be calling someone else. When he realized it was him who you were talking to, he approached and raised his eyebrows at you. You signed him thanks before writing down, “ _you don’t need to watch over me”_. 

Daryl just shrugged, seeming awkward. You didn’t know what to do, but finally you decided to pat the ground next to you so at least he would sit down there instead of just being standing while both of you just stared at each other. Daryl seemed hesitant but finally he sat down. 

For a little while, you both stayed there, looking at the ground, until your mind wandered again to your lost friends and you blinked your tears away, taking pen and paper, and tugging at Daryl’s side, pointing at his bag when he looked at you. He realized what you were asking, taking out his lantern and turning it on, and you began writing.

“ _The_ _men came asking for help and shelter, we took them in. They turned against us. We were idiots. We shouldn’t trust people like that. I learned_.” 

“ _You trusted us._ ” Daryl wrote down, and you realized he was right. 

You had just made the same mistake again, joining Daryl’s group, taking them to your old camp, sleeping among them, it was like you were asking to be taken advantage of again and then killed. But you did trust them, you’d felt they were good people. They’d helped you, even before they knew about the warehouse and supplies, they’d been willing to take you in. They were good people, you were sure, couldn’t help it, you felt they were. 

So was Daryl, you were alone with him there, he could kill you and nobody would know, but you felt you could trust him. He’d come to check on you and make sure you were safe. You couldn’t help your small smile. As Carol’d said, he was a good guy, shy or not. 

When you didn’t say anything, Daryl took the pen again. “ _You weren’t stupid. Just good people_.” You gave Daryl a grateful smile and he gave you a rather awkward pat on the shoulder.

You both stayed silent again, and you snuggled the shawl to you, and for a while no one of you said anything. You were playing with a loose thread of one of the holes of the shawl when the image of how upset your sister would be if she saw the state of it popped into your mind and you chuckled sadly. Daryl looked at you, seeming a bit surprised, and you took pen and paper. 

“ _This was my sister’s shawl. A gift from mom. She would be so appalled seeing these holes on it. She loved it. She and my mom died at the beginning of everything. I should fix it someday._ ” You wrote down, Daryl peeking over your shoulder to read as you wrote. You were embarrassed to notice you were crying again, but you couldn’t help it. 

Daryl didn’t say anything, but after a while, he took the notebook again. “ _You should go back and sleep._ ” You nodded, giving him a sad smile and getting up, and you both walked to the warehouse. Daryl stopped at the outside, pointing from him to T-Dog, and you guessed it meant he was going to take watch now. 

You nodded, signed him a thanks to which he shrugged, and you walked into the warehouse, curling up over your blanket and wrapping first your new coat then the shawl around you. You closed your eyes and tried to sleep. 

When you woke up, almost everyone was already up and moving. You sat up and realized that the shawl wasn’t on top of you anymore. You frowned and looked around, confused, checking the folds of your coat and your blanket to see if you had dragged it somewhere when you slept. 

You couldn’t find it, and as you looked around, more and more confused, you noticed Carol approaching you and handing you the shawl. You wondered what in the world had she been doing with it until you realized the holes were sewed. Stroking the fabric, you looked at Carol, still confused, but you gave her a smile and a sign of thanks. 

Carol crouched down next to you, reaching out to take the notebook. “ _Daryl told me you wanted it fixed, it was an easy thing. I’ll fix your coat’s sleeve too._ ” She wrote down, and you blinked, surprised, but nodded. “Important?” Carol asked, pointing at the shawl, and you nodded, taking the pen. 

_“My sister’s”_

Carol nodded, smiling and squeezing your shoulder before getting up and walking out of the warehouse. You looked around but Daryl was nowhere to be seen, and you guessed he’d gone hunting already. 

That day passed quietly, and you were glad to be around people again, nice people, even though it was still strange to look around at your home and not seeing your friends there, it still made your heart hurt badly, but you tried to stay strong. You checked your trap, grinning when you found you’d caught a rabbit during the night. You showed the others where was the closest river so they could get water when they needed it. You checked a couple of maps with Glenn, showing him what were the places you and your people had already scavenged and were emptied by now, and trying to find new. You kept practicing signs when Carol and Maggie when they were free. It helped, having people around, made it hurt a tiny bit less. 

Daryl came back late in the day, bringing a string of squirrels with him. You walked to him, shawl wrapped around your shoulders, and pointed at it before signing Daryl thanks. He shrugged and nodded once, seeming as awkward as ever. He went to get his kills ready and you took your rabbit and followed him. Daryl looked at you when you sat down next to him and you pointed from the rabbit to where you had placed the trap, and the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile. 

“Good,” he said, signing you an okay, and you smiled, nodding, before both of you kept working on your kills. 

That night, you decided to take first watch, knowing that you’d have a hard time trying to sleep. You sat down on the stairs outside the warehouse and took out your notebook to doddle a bit, and you didn’t realize you were crying until a tear blurred one of your doodles. Damn it. It seemed everything came back during the nights. 

You noticed something behind you and you saw Daryl a little away, looking at you. You rubbed your eyes quickly and arched your eyebrows at him to see if he wanted something, but he just looked at the ground. “ _I can keep watch alone_ ”, you wrote down in your notebook, reaching out to give it to Daryl, gently pocking him with it. 

“I know,” he said when he read it, and reached out to take the pen. “ _I thought maybe you were going back to the woods alone_ ”. 

You shook your head when you read it, it was kind of cute he thought you’d need someone if you went to the woods at night, but you’d survived on your own there for a week, you could handle it. Still, it felt good to have someone caring about your whereabouts and safety again, and so you didn’t say anything, afraid it might get him thinking you didn’t want him around, he was awkward enough when he approached you, and you’d already decided you wanted to be Daryl’s friend, if he wanted to. 

You pointed at yourself and then did an okay sign. Daryl nodded, looking at you for a short moment before turning around and walking back into the warehouse. 

*

The next day, you were bored, sat down on the ground, having finished your chores. You had been taking watch with T-Dog, but now it was Glenn and Maggie’s turn, and you didn’t know what to do with yourself. You saw Daryl shouldering his crossbow, and you guessed he was going to patrol around the perimeter, as either Rick or him did at least twice a day. You thought you might as well join him, that way you’d have something to do, and you thought you’d like to spend more time with Daryl.

You approached him, notebook in hand. “ _Can I go patrol with you?”_ Daryl frowned, taking the notebook and writing down, “ _why?_ ” You just shrugged, smiling despite his frown, hoping you hadn’t upset him. Daryl looked at you but then he nodded.

You both walked around the perimeter, and you caught Daryl glancing at you through the corner of his eye once or twice, but he didn’t try to talk to you. You wanted to talk to him, but you didn’t know what to say…had been making friends always this hard? It seemed to flow more easily with Maggie and Glenn…yet, you felt you wanted to talk with Daryl more.

You were deep in thought, wondering what you could talk about, when you suddenly felt Daryl tugging at your sleeve, and you looked at him. He pointed at something on the ground, and then took your notebook, writing down, “ _deer.”_ You looked at what he was pointing, but you couldn’t really see anything there. You pointed at the notebook and then signed deer. Daryl repeated it and you nodded, and you found yourself thinking that he looked kind of cute doing that sign.

 _“I’m gonna track it_ ,” Daryl wrote down in a rush. “ _Wanna come or wanna go back_?”

“ _You don’t mind I go with you?_ ” You wrote as fast as you could, so you wouldn’t make him lose time. Daryl shook his head and began walking, and so you followed him.

You noticed Daryl looking at you from time to time, but he wasn’t saying anything. You wanted to know what was going on and so you stopped, tugging at his vest and pushing him with your notebook. He chewed on his lip but finally he took the notebook. “ _You make noise when you move.”_

You hadn’t realized it, you hadn’t even thought about it, and you blushed in embarrassment, feeling a lump in your throat, and you signed a sorry, but Daryl just shrugged. You took the notebook anyway, “ _I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I’ll go back_.”

“Nah,” Daryl said, frowning, and he took the notebook. “ _Not going back alone_.” It was a good feeling, that he cared, but still, you hated to think he might think you couldn’t take care of yourself, and so you wrote down, _“I can go alone, I told you I’m not useless, I survived alone in the woods.”_ Daryl took the notebook back, frowning, and you were pretty sure he was scoffing. “ _I know you aren’t useless. Come on_.”

You were going to take the notebook again but Daryl stuffed it inside your pocket before squeezing your shoulder and gently making you walk with him. Well, okay then…you hoped he really did think you weren’t useless. And you hoped you weren’t making much noise, but you didn’t know how to help it.

After a while following him, Daryl stopped , walking around the same place and then kicking the ground. You looked at him, startled, arching your eyebrows and he took your notebook from your pocket to write down, “ _Lost the trail_.” You could notice his anger in his writing. You signed a sorry, and Daryl wrote again, frowning at you, _“Not your fault.”_ You took the notebook again, “ _I’m sorry I made noise.”_

Daryl shook his head, writing down, “ _Not that. Trail was old already. Deer must be far now.”_ You hoped you really hadn’t messed Daryl’s hunt, and maybe your worry was reflecting on your face, because Daryl reached out to squeeze your shoulder gently, and it made you feel better. You gave him a smile and took the notebook. _“I couldn’t see the track or anything, I don’t know how you do it, it’s impressive.”_

You thought Daryl blushed when he read it, and he just shrugged, looking down before taking the notebook, chewing at his lip for a moment before writing down. _“Could tell you how_.” You signed him a “really?” before you caught yourself and Daryl looked at you confused, so you took the notebook to write it down, and Daryl nodded at you.

“ _But I don’t want to scare the game when you hunt_ ,” you wrote down and Daryl just shrugged, taking the notebook to write.

 _“We practice when we are on patrol._ ” He shrugged again as if it wasn’t a big deal, he really seemed to mean it, and you grinned at him, happy that he was offering to teach you something and also spend more time with you.

You signed him a thanks, and a smile tugged at Daryl’s lip. You were going to put your notebook in your pocket, but Daryl stopped you, opening it and pointing at the “ _really_ ,” trying to do the sign you had done before. You did it again, grinning when Daryl copied it, and you nodded.

You followed Daryl as he headed back towards where you came from, until he stopped and pointed at something on the ground. You squinted, trying to see what he was seeing, and so he took the notebook, writing down what you should look for, until you found it. You spent some time like that, with Daryl writing you the basics about tracking, showing you things, while you show him some signs related to it here and there. Damn, wasn’t it hard…you didn’t know how Daryl could do it so easily.

At some point, though, you noticed a very distinctive smell getting closer, and you pushed Daryl with the notebook before writing down, ‘ _Walkers._ ’ Daryl frowned at you and then looked around. Nothing could be seen, but soon you could see a small group of them ahead, walking through the trees. Daryl grabbed your wrist, rushing you both to some thick bushes and you both crouched down, hiding and keeping quiet, so the walkers wouldn’t notice you. 

Suddenly, though, Daryl got his crossbow ready as if he didn’t want to hide anymore, and you looked at him questioningly. “Going to the camp,” he mouthed slowly so you could understand. You nodded, you couldn’t get oriented as good as Daryl, but if the walkers were moving towards the camp you had to put them down. 

Daryl loosed an arrow, one of the walkers dropping dead while the others turned their attention to the commotion, and so you took your silenced gun and began shooting at them until there were just a couple left, and Daryl and you put them down by knife.

Once Daryl finished retrieving his arrows, you smiled at him, nodding at a work well done, and Daryl returned your nod, giving you a small smile. You took your notebook to write down, ‘ _walker_ ’, and then you made a claw with your fingers and closed your hand like if they were teeth chomping on something, the sign you had used with your late friends. Daryl nodded, he got it, and then imitated the sign. He took your notebook and the pen, fidgeting with it before writing down. 

‘ _How did you know walkers were coming_?’ 

‘ _They smell like rot and death, I noticed it’_

Daryl looked at you, cocking his head, mouthing a “really?” and you nodded. 

‘ _You could too, you just got too used to it._ ’ 

“Maybe. Impressive.” He said, making you blush, before turning around and you followed him. An idea popped into your mind and you began laughing, and when Daryl turned to look at you, you knew you were laughing aloud. At first he seemed surprised and confused, but then he smiled as he watched you laugh. “What?” 

You took the notebook and pen. ‘ _It’s stupid. But. You are hunting and telling me how to track. I could smell the walkers. So I’m kind of a hunting dog. Catching a smell. You know. Imagine if I could._ ’ 

Daryl kept trying to peek over your shoulder while you wrote, but you didn’t let him, and once you finished you passed him the notebook and laughed again. He frowned as he read, and you began to feel embarrassed, maybe he thought you were an idiot…but then his smile went wider and he shook his head, chuckling. He looked at you and nodded. “It is stupid”

You didn’t take offence, he was smiling, and you thought it was the first time you saw him laughing. You liked it. 

“Come on,” Daryl said, nudging your shoulder with his gently, and you both walked back to the camp. He looked around as he walked, until suddenly he stopped, totally still, and you almost bumped against his back. He pointed at a tree and you saw a squirrel there on top of a branch, he quickly aimed his crossbow and shoot. 

‘ _Impressive!_ ’ You wrote down when Daryl came back from retrieving the arrow and the squirrel, and he shrugged, seeming a bit shy. By the time you went back to the warehouse, Daryl was carrying a string of squirrels. You had tried shooting at one with your gun, but the squirrel had moved too fast. Daryl had told you to just try again tomorrow, and you planned on doing it…You hoped he wanted to keep telling you about tracking.

That evening you were sat down next to the fire where a stew was brewing, practicing signs with Maggie and Carol. You noticed Daryl watching you three again, but when you nodded at him to join you, he quickly looked down as if he hadn’t been watching. Eventually, Maggie patted your shoulder and left to join Glenn as he patrolled around the warehouse. 

“ _You went hunting with Daryl?_ ” Carol wrote down on your notebook

“ _Not really, we were patrolling but when we were finishing Daryl began following a trail and I followed him._ ” You wrote down, angling the notebook so Carol could read while you wrote. _“I don’t think I could be good at hunting, I make noise when I move, but Daryl has told me things about tracking anyway, I’d like to learn.”_

“ _Can’t really see him as a teacher_.” Carol wrote down, smiling wide. 

“ _He has patience. He’s a good guy._ ” 

“ _He is_.” She smiled fondly. _“So you gonna keep tracking with him?”_

“ _I hope so. If he wants me_ _, if I don’t bother his hunting.”_

It seemed Daryl wanted it, because the next day, as you got a rabbit trap ready, you felt someone tugging at your sleeve, catching your attention, and you saw it was Daryl, taking your notebook to write if you wanted to check a trail he’d been following.


	4. Chapter 4

You kept going to the woods with Daryl, he always went hunting alone, but you both took patrol once a day around the perimeter of the warehouse, and when you were sure everything was safe, Daryl would take you deeper into the woods to try to find a trail and write you things about tracking. And so, little by little, you began learning more about tracking, even though you were far away from being able to track something yourself.

Little by little, you began knowing more about Daryl too. Almost every day, you both shared your watch too, and after some days like that, you still wanted to know more about Daryl, and so you decided to act on it. You had written him a sentence about you, just the place where you had been born, and Daryl had seemed confused about what you were doing or what you wanted, until finally he got that you wanted him to write something about himself too. He’d seemed awkward and uncomfortable, to the point you had almost taken back the notebook to write that he didn’t need too, but finally he’d written you the place where he’d been born. 

And so each day you learned a new thing about him. He still seemed a bit awkward about it, always looking nervously at you when you read whatever it was, but now he didn’t hesitate to write something, and you felt that slowly, he was opening up, and you were glad to have his trust, which you felt was hard to win. Sometimes, when you felt like it, you wrote him more things about yourself than only a sentence, but never told him to write you more than he’d be comfortable with. 

By now, he knew that you’d worked as a social worker before the apocalypse, that your mother and sister had died during the first days, and that you had a cat who ran away when everything started, and you never knew where he went but how you daydreamed he was safe and sound, hiding somewhere. You told him about your father too, how he’d died when you and your sister were teens. You told him silly things too, like how much you missed your favourite snacks or shows. 

You loved to pass time with Daryl, to, little by little, learn things about him, and you loved that it really seemed that Daryl liked to spend time with you too. However, sometimes you caught yourself thinking a bit too much about Daryl, your mind wandering to him when you less expected it, a smile tugging at your lips when you thought about him, and you couldn’t help your smile every time you saw him.

You had even caught your belly doing some weird twirls once or twice, your heart fluttering in a certain way…you really didn’t need something like that, but you didn’t know how to stop it. You found yourself wondering what Daryl might think if he knew…he was kind to you, even if shy, he seemed to enjoy your company and friendship, but you couldn’t know if he might be interested in something else. He was so shy, though, you were afraid to ask. You didn’t want to embarrass yourself and him, and you certainly didn’t want to make things awkward between you two.

You were lost in thought once more, wondering about all that, when you felt Daryl elbowing you softly, and you realized he was handing you the notebook but you had zoned out a bit. You signed a sorry, blushing, but Daryl just seemed amused at you.

He had written a word, and you signed it to him, practicing. You both did that often too, Daryl was quite a quick learner. He didn’t join Maggie, Carol and you when you practice together, but you had seen him practicing alone. You hadn’t said anything, not wanting to embarrass him maybe, and also, it was sweet, and he seemed so cute…you really should stop thinking like that about him, but you couldn’t help it. You were grateful he was making an effort to learn, though, just like Maggie and Carol, and some other people in the group were slowly picking up things too. Daryl’d also practice alone with you, and you couldn’t lie, you loved those moments with him.

“You’re good,” you signed to Daryl, smiling when he caught the meaning, and he just shrugged shyly. You took the notebook and wrote, “ _you learn really fast,_ ” grinning at Daryl when he read it, but it just seemed to make him shyer. “I _appreciate the effort,_ ” you wrote down, and Daryl just shrugged again but gave you that tiny smile that made you feel weird things.

*

A couple of months had passed since you found your new friends, the days were colder and colder, and you all had once again run out of supplies, so Daryl, Glenn, Maggie and you had gone on a run to a supermarket, the place was away from the warehouse, but you all hoped you could make it back before the sun went down.

You were rushing through the place, not far from Daryl, after putting down the few walkers there, taking anything that was left and that could be useful in any form, keeping an eye out for any movement that could mean a potential threat. You turned around and noticed Daryl pushing something into his bag, but when he noticed you looking, he acted like nothing.

You arched your eyebrows at him and Daryl did the same to you. “What?” you signed, pointing at the bag, but Daryl just signed you a “nothing,” shrugging. You snorted, approaching him as you took out your notebook.

 _“You found a snack you don’t want to share or what?_ ” You wrote down, smiling teasingly at him. Daryl rolled his eyes, shaking his head before signing you a “come on,” and nudging your shoulder gently with his so you would walk with him.

Once the place was swiped up, you walked to Daryl’s bike, you enjoyed to ride with him, and he didn’t seem to mind. You got situated behind him, wrapping your arms around him, which you wouldn’t admit but was one of the reasons why you liked to ride with him…holding him felt just so comforting and so good.

You were watching how Maggie and Glenn loaded the stuff they had found in the car, and without thinking, you rested your chin on Daryl’s shoulder. You didn’t really realize, it just felt natural, until Daryl turned his head to look at you. You blushed, afraid of being pushing his boundaries, but he just gave you a tiny, shy and crooked smile, before turning on the bike.

*

You had come back home in time to dine on rabbit stew and now you were setting your things for bed, beat after the run, when you felt Daryl tugging at your sleeve. You looked at him questioningly and he nodded at you to follow him outside. It was late, it was dark and cold, you were tired, and so you frowned at him before raising a questioning eyebrow. Daryl chewed on his lip before nodding to the door again and so you decided to follow him and see what he wanted. You grabbed your blanket, though, wrapping it around you as you followed Daryl outside.

Rick was taking watch with Hershel, and they looked at you both, seeming confused to see you out too, but they let you be, going back to watch the treeline near the warehouse, and you sat down next to Daryl on the stairs of the warehouse.

“Cold?” You signed to Daryl, who was wearing his not so warm jacket and vest, but he shook his head. He was stubborn on not taking blankets or warm clothes that someone else might need, you knew, but still, it worried you that he’d get sick one day, the weather was getting colder and colder.

Daryl reached inside his bag, that he had taken out with him, and you found yourself wishing you’d actually been right and he had found a snack or something, because you’d die for some chocolate bar or a bag of chips. You knew he would share it with the others if he had, though, and so you waited expectantly to see what he took out. The first thing was his lantern, that he turned on and balanced on his knee, before taking out a small book.

He gave it to you and you realized it was a pocket-sized asl book. You looked at him surprised, amazed that he had managed to find one, and glad he had picked it up.

“It’s good?” Daryl signed to you, seeming a bit nervous, and you nodded before opening it, flipping through the pages. For its size, it had a lot of information, useful and quite nicely explained.

“Very good,” you signed to Daryl, and he smiled, shrugging when you signed him a thanks, before you picked up a random page and began practicing with Daryl the first sign you saw.

From that day, it was usual that you found Daryl studying with the book when he had a quiet moment, and you couldn’t help your silly smile every time you watched him practicing signs to himself.

He wasn’t the only one though, the book went from hand to hand within the group, everyone picking up signs here and there, and every passing day they were more able to communicate with you without you having to write down everything. And you were quite happy about it.

*

You were shivering hard, trying to dry your dripping hair with an old towel. Daryl and you had been patrolling when a storm had caught you both, and despite rushing back to the warehouse, you both had ended up soaking wet. Daryl was now leaving your soaked clothes near the fire that you had at the porch outside, protected from the rain. You wished you could sit down next to the fire, but the cold outside wasn’t tempting, and so you sat down on your bedroll, glad to have at least warm, dry clothes.

You felt something fell over you and you realized Daryl was wrapping a blanket around you, rubbing at your arms to try and warm you as you kept shaking, and you gave him a grateful smile, He sat down next to you, and you realized once again how cold the day must be when you saw that even Daryl had a blanket around his shoulders.

You were still fighting your shivers when you noticed Daryl squeezing your arm, and so you looked at him. “Cold?” he signed, and you nodded. You looked at him as he chewed on his lip, you knew well that habit of him now, and then he was averting his eyes and shyly reaching out his arm, as if inviting you to move closer to him. You were a bit surprised, and something twirled in your belly at the idea, and so at first you didn’t move, but when you saw Daryl looking back at you briefly, blushing red and pulling back, you kicked into action. You didn’t want him thinking that you didn’t want to sit closer to him, when it was actually the opposite.

You scooted closer and when, tentatively, Daryl wrapped his arm around you, you snuggled to his warmth, feeling much better already. You signed him a thanks, smiling to him, and Daryl shrugged, but he smiled softly at you. You bit your lip as you looked at him, wrapped in his in warmth…damn, you wanted to kiss him, you couldn’t help it, whether it was silly or not…

You wondered if it reflected in your face, because then Daryl was looking at you…you didn’t know how, but different. You wondered what would he think if he knew your feelings, what would he do, if you kissed him…You knew he liked to spend his time with you, he cared for you and took care of you, but then, he took care of everyone. Still, he’d gone out of his way quite a few times to make sure you were okay, and he was gentle and kind with you…but he’d never hinted at wanting anything else, neither you knew if you were his type…you weren’t sure if it was worth to risk it and ask him, and maybe end up making things between you two awkward, losing this beautiful thing you had.

You wondered about your feelings too. You didn’t want to be unfair to Daryl. Were those butterflies real? Or were you just lonely and grateful for Daryl? How could you be sure? You didn’t know…but you knew you cared deeply for him, you loved to spend your time with him, he gave you the butterflies more often than not…and at that moment, you knew that you wanted to kiss him.

Daryl was still looking at you with that expression you couldn’t read, but suddenly he looked up, and you noticed Lori walking close. Everyone was getting ready to sleep and Daryl pulled away from you, seeming a shy, though he smiled to you when you smiled at him, trying to mask your nerves at those weird feelings that still went through you.

That night, when you tried to sleep, you replayed your feelings, trying to make sense of it, trying to decide what to do…you had to make sure that what you felt was real, that you wanted more than a friendship, and if you did…then you had to go for it, right? At least try? Something like that wasn’t easy to find now at the end of the world, was it? And someone like Daryl…no, someone like him wasn’t easy to find, he was special, even in the world before…you got that silly smile and butterflies just thinking about him. But then, what if he didn’t want it? What if you asked and he stopped hanging out with you like he did…maybe you’d make him awkward around you…but if you didn’t ask, you’d never know…ugh, you really didn’t know what to do.

Then, you felt something over you, startling you until you made Daryl silhouette in the darkness, you recognized him well now, and you noticed he was carefully placing your shawl over you, on top of your blanket, and he probably thought you were asleep as he tucked you in, making sure you were warm.

Your silly smile just grew wider, and the butterflies in your stomach danced faster…no, you really didn’t want to risk losing this…

*

You lost the warehouse in what you thought, hoped, was the last month of winter. A herd of walkers, bigger than you’d ever seen, had stumbled to the warehouse, and there was no way you could stop it. Neither of you wanted to leave, not wanting to give up your home, but soon you were overpowered and you knew there was nothing to do, and so you picked up as many of the stuff as you could, and you all left.

You were now sat down on the ground, shivering near the fire, clutching a blanket greedily when Maggie gave one to everyone. Daryl was taking patrol, but you were feeling too cold to go with him, even if you felt guilty about leaving him alone. Soon, though, Rick was taking his place and Daryl was walking to you.

You still hadn’t dared to share your feelings with Daryl, but you couldn’t help how you felt when he was close, or even just when you thought about him. You smiled to him when he sat down next to you, and he gave you that small smile that gave you butterflies.

“Okay?” He signed and you nodded. He reached out and you frowned, confused, when he touched your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb. You didn’t know what was going on, but your heart sped up at it. Daryl seemed to catch on your confusion, because he took his hand away, blushing, and he signed to you that you had a cut there. You hadn’t even realized it.

You looked around at the camp, letting out a sign. “Worried about Lori,” you signed to Daryl. “Pregnant…out here…”

Daryl nodded, seeming thoughtful, and then he took your notebook to write, “ _We’ll find something_.” You had to hope so. Daryl gave you a tiny smile, nudging his shoulder with yours, making you smile gratefully.

He was looking at you in a way…maybe he wouldn’t freak out, if you asked him to have something more than only friendship? You still weren’t sure…But maybe it was worth to try? You had lost your home, you had to fight a big group of walkers, any of you could have died there…any moment could be your last, so maybe you should make the best out of every moment? But maybe that could mean losing Daryl? You didn’t think he’d stop caring for you, but you didn’t want to make things weird…

You didn’t realize you had groaned in frustration until Daryl tugged at your blanket, frowning at you and signing “what?” You blushed, embarrassed, shaking your head, but Daryl just nudged you and asked again. “Too much in my head”, you signed, and Daryl took your notebook again.

“ _We’ll manage_ ,” he wrote down and you nodded, smiling but flustered…if only he knew what was on your mind… Daryl reached out his arm for you, shyly, and you scooted closer gratefully, closing your eyes and leaning against his shoulder while his arm wrapped around you tentatively, making you feel all sort of things…yeah, you really needed to do something about this…

*

A week later, you all finally found a cabin to stay, and you still hadn’t dared to say anything to Daryl, even though each day your feelings just grew. Now that you had finally woke up under a roof again, you had decided that today was the day, you would go for it…that was why, as you patrolled with Daryl, your stomach knotted with nerves and you found yourself distracted, wondering if you were about to make a mistake, when Daryl squeezed your shoulder and took you out of your thoughts.

“Something wrong?” Daryl signed and you shook your head, blushing. Come on…you could do it…if you didn’t, you would never do it, and you didn’t want to maybe regret it…come on, just go for it… You pointed at a log on the ground and went to sit down on it, Daryl sitting down next to you, still looking at you worriedly.

You didn’t know how to go about it, and you decided to take your notebook and just go for it, even if you were nervous and shy. _“I like you_ ,” you wrote down, and showed it to Daryl, who blinked at you when he read it, blushing and seeming as awkward as you had feared, so you rushed to sign a “sorry”, taking the notebook away and blushing yourself.

Daryl pocked you and although he seemed very, very shy, he took the notebook and pointed at the “ _I like you_ ”, signaling from him to you. You thought you got it, he liked you too, but you weren’t sure he quite got what you meant. You almost bailed out, almost didn’t dare, but you forced yourself to be brave and took the notebook, writing down, “ _I mean not only as a friend_.”

You couldn’t look while Daryl read, embarrassed. He didn’t say anything and so you forced yourself to look at him. He was staring at the notebook, and when you took it away, he still looked down without saying anything, without looking at you. You didn’t know what to do. You tugged at his sleeve and he finally looked at you, though he averted his eyes. “Sorry,” you signed and Daryl shook his head.

“You angry?” You signed and Daryl frowned, saying something that you were pretty sure was “what?” before shaking his head. You didn’t know what to think.

“Come on,” he signed, and you both walked back to the cabin.

You really didn’t know what to think…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re half way there and we got a reader catching feelings and a reader confesing them!
> 
> What did you think? If you liked it, please let me know your thoughts.
> 
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


	5. Chapter 5

You were at the outside of the cabin, sitting down alone at the porch despite the cold, hugging your knees to your chest, watching the sun go down. You didn’t feel like being around anyone, not after what had happened with Daryl earlier, you needed some time. The thing was…he didn’t seem angry, he didn’t seem to have stopped being your friend, but he hadn’t said anything either, hadn’t talked to you since you told him that you liked him, had occupied himself doing stuff away from you. You didn’t know what to think, you hoped you hadn’t ruined everything…

You felt someone or something close to you, and you jumped into alert mode before realizing it was Daryl. It was the first time he approached you since patrolling, since you confessed…You looked at him, nervous, you didn’t know what to expect. You hoped he’d act like nothing, that he wouldn’t bring it up, that you both could just keep going with your friendship as if nothing…but he seemed shy and awkward, and that couldn’t be a good sign.

Your shoulders sagged down and you looked away from him, you didn’t want him to see that you were sad. Daryl sat down next to you and you felt him reaching to take your notebook and pen out of your pocket. You swallowed hard and got ready for him to write his rejection or something worse.

He didn’t write anything, though, just opened the notebook and then looked at you, pocking you so you’d look at him when you didn’t. Once you were looking at him, you could notice his flushed cheeks even in the dark, and he signed “I like you,” or tried to, but you caught it. He hadn’t known that sign before, so he must have looked for it at the book. You didn’t know what to think. Then he showed you the notebook, the page were you had written: _“But not only as a friend.”_

Daryl seemed shy, more than shy, but also expectant, but you still didn’t know what to do. Was this real… You signed at Daryl “Sure?” And he blinked at you, nodding as he frowned at you, seeming taken aback at your reaction, and so you took the notebook. “ _When I told you before you left”_ , you wrote.

Daryl nodded, chewed on his lip, signing a sorry and taking the notebook. “ _Needed to think_.” You let out a sigh. He needed to think it? Then his feelings couldn’t be that strong, or he’d know, wouldn’t him? You still weren’t sure this was real, and so you took the notebook to write, _“You don’t need to feel forced to anything, we’re good as friends.”_

Daryl frowned again, shaking his head and chewing on his lip as he looked at you before he signed “I like you,” again, seeming a bit frustrated.

“Really?” You couldn’t help but sign back.

“Really.” Daryl signed, his frown deepening.

“Okay,” You nodded, butterflies waking in your belly even if you still were a bit dumbfounded, and you took the notebook to write down. “ _You want us to be together? Not only as friends?”_

Butterflies just danced faster when Daryl nodded firmly, a smile tugging at the corner of your lip that grew wider when Daryl’s lip curled up softly as he looked at you. Maybe he really was sure, maybe this was real? _“So what now?”_ You wrote down and Daryl just shrugged, seeming a bit lost. You shrugged too, a bit lost yourself, but you couldn’t help your smile as you looked at him, his expression softening as he began to relax.

You chewed on your lip and decided to go for it. “Kiss?” You signed, pointing from you to him, you didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by kissing him without warning, even if you were kind of together now? You thought it was kind of an obvious sign, but Daryl cocked his head at you and you chuckled, taking the notebook.

“Kiss,” you wrote down, and then you signed it again. You swore you saw Daryl blushing bright red despite the darkness, and you didn’t know if it was a good sign or not, but then he was leaning closer to kiss your cheek. It was…well, not what you were going for, but there was something really sweet on it, and you couldn’t help your silly smile.

You reached out tentatively, giving Daryl time to pull away, but he didn’t, and he let you brush your fingers down his cheek, his eyes actually closing for a second as a smile tugged at his lips at your caress. When he looked at you again, you signed “kiss” again and then pointed at his lips, arching your eyebrows, and you really, really wished Daryl’d be okay with it, because you wanted to kiss him so bad…

Daryl dropped his gaze to your lips before nodding and then he was leaning in and pecking your lips softly. You smiled in bliss when he pulled back, your heart beating fast and butterflies dancing in your belly, and Daryl gave you a shy smile. “Okay?” You signed, and Daryl nodded. You leaned in slowly, giving Daryl time to pull back if he wanted, and then you kissed his lips, getting more and more daring when he kissed you back, cupping your face, fingers running through your hair…

*

You took things with Daryl slow. You hadn’t asked, but you thought he didn’t have much experience with relationships, and so you wanted to give him time and space…and honestly, the first days, you still had a hard time believing this was real, that Daryl was with you and you both had something more than a friendship.

It didn’t seem like your relationship has changed that much, you still did the same as always, patrol, take watch, review signs, have conversations… The difference was that now, sometimes, you’d reach and hold Daryl’s hand, or you’d kiss him. He had seemed not used at all at physical contact at first, but he was slowly getting used to it, he didn’t seem that surprised anymore, and he was also starting to initiate gestures of affection himself, wrapping his arm around you, holding your hand, kissing you sometimes…which always sent butterflies to your belly.

You had always slept near Daryl, but you waited a few days to actually move your sleeping bag next to his, and then you waited some more, letting him get used to your presence next to him, until you began to reach out for him to hold him at night and sleep curled up with him. Soon, though, you were surprised to find that Daryl was a cuddler, he really seemed to love sleeping curled up with you…you loved it.

And so as weeks passed, your relationship seemed to consolidate and grow stronger, and you knew you’d made a good decision by sharing your feelings with Daryl. You also knew how lucky you were that he felt the same.

You weren’t so lucky on the shelter department, though, you kept losing every place that you found to herds of walkers, and you were always running low on supplies, always on the move, looking for shelter and food, Daryl hunting as much as he could. You worried for him, he rested too little, always patrolling and hunting, and he didn’t eat enough…

You knew he was worried about the group, especially Lori who was getting so big, and you worried too, but Daryl was your main concern, since he didn’t seem to think that much on himself, as if he only cared about all of you being good, so you tried to make him eat more when he didn’t, tried to lull him into sleeping more, and whenever he looked for support in you, for comfort in your arms, curling up with you, your heart felt like bursting with love.

You were curled up with your blanket and sleeping bag on the floor of an old house, waiting for Daryl, until you finally felt him touching your arm softly, as he always did at night so as not to startle you before lying next to you. You shifted closer, throwing an arm over him and resting your chin on his chest to look at him, though you could barely see him in the dim room.

“Okay?” You signed, hoping he could see you. You really should come up with something for when you were in the darkness. Daryl nodded, reaching out to run his fingers through your hair, and pulling at you to kiss your forehead and then your lips softly. You smiled, nestling over his chest.

You wanted to scold him for not having had dinner, for having spent so many hours patrolling without letting you be with him, saying you needed to rest. He needed it too. But as you snuggled with him, so comfortable and warm…that could wait to the morning, when Daryl could actually see your signing and your notebook.

His arm wrapped around you, holding you close, and he began playing with your hair. You let out a content sign, relaxing and feeling Daryl relax too, his breath evening under you as you both feel asleep.

*

Keeping watch in the middle of nowhere, out in the danger after once again having lost your shelter, wasn’t your favorite thing in the world, though you felt safer like that, sat down between Daryl’s legs, your back against his chest and his arms wrapped protectively around you. He always had your back, figurative and literally, and you tried to do the same for him.

Your mood wasn’t the best, though, since you all were once again running low in supplies, at least you all were able to eat from what Daryl hunted, but you were worried about Lori and her baby, and about everyone else, not knowing when you’d find shelter again.

You knew that Daryl worried too, and so you tried to stay strong and hopeful for him. He seemed to feel your mood or to see something on your face, though, because you felt his hand squeezing yours reassuringly, and he signed you “okay?” when you looked at him. You nodded, squeezing his hand back and shifting to kiss his cheek, loving the tiny, shy smile that pulled at the corner of his mouth as you did so.

It was so strange to think that you had met him a little more than a couple of months ago. You felt as if Daryl had been a part of your life for so much longer and you couldn’t imagine your life without him now, you didn’t want to. You hadn’t thought that you’d find something like this after the apocalypse, and sometimes it was hard to believe, but you knew that your feelings for Daryl were strong, surprising even yourself some times.

You didn’t know if it was like that for Daryl too, you hoped so, and with the way in which he behaved with you…yeah, you thought so. It gave you the butterflies every time he looked at you in a certain way, or you caught him looking at you with that soft smile, the way he had of checking on you and subtly making sure that you were alright, those little affectionate gestures he showed you sometimes…

Your relationship pace might be slow, but you loved to see Daryl relaxing more and more around you, bringing down his walls, getting used to receive and show affection not only with you but with everyone else in the group. It was a process that you loved to witness, and you were grateful you got to see it and be part of it.

You both kept scanning the surrounding woods in case any danger might approach, as your thumb lazily stroked over Daryl’s knuckles.

*

The weather was getting milder, winter giving way to spring, when you told Daryl that you loved him. You both had been patrolling around the cabin where you were all staying and now you were alone, sat down outside, snacking from a bag of chips that you had found in the last run, waiting for Daryl to come back from hunting and saving some chips from him.

You smiled when you saw him walking back, a rabbit hanging from his belt and a string of squirrels from his shoulder. You’d have stew that evening. You reached out the chips to him as he approached and he took them, leaning down to place a quick peck on your lips.

“Okay?” He signed and you nodded. He pointed at his kills and at the cabin, and you knew he was going to get them ready. You got up and followed him, ready to help.

Later, once you were finished helping Daryl, you were both sitting down outside again, your head on his shoulder as you watched the sunset, feeling content, so content despite the world having ended, and you had Daryl to thank for that. You looked at him with a fond smile, though he seemed lost in thought, and you knew you had to tell him, you wanted to.

You nudged Daryl softly so he’d look at you, and then you shyly signed him “I love you.” When you saw him blushing red as he blinked at you before averting his eyes, you knew he knew the sing, and you wondered if he’d looked it up in the book…it made the butterflies in your stomach dance.

Daryl wasn’t looking at you, though, his cheeks flushed as he fidgeted, and you worried you had pushed his boundaries, but then he was leaning in to kiss your lips. You grinned at him when he pulled back, and although Daryl still seemed quite shy and he didn’t quite meet your eyes, he signed you “I love you back.” You felt as if your heart might just explode, and grinning, you pulled him closer again, cupping his face to kiss his lips.

A couple of weeks after that, you decided you wanted to come up with a sign for I love you that were only for Daryl and you, and that you both could use on those long, dark nights lying together. You and him had come up with some like that already, you both had your silent ways of communication, and some times you both didn’t even need signs. You had some signs with your group that were only for all of you too. You liked it.

After giving it some thought, you went to sit down next to Daryl, notebook in hand, and he looked at you, seeming intrigued about what you might need to write him, you mostly used signs with him by now. You wrote down “I love you” and Daryl looked at you confused, signing it to you, and so you signed him to wait.

You pointed at the “I love you” written in the notebook and then signed from you to Daryl, and back at you, so he knew you wanted something just for you and him. You reached out to hold his hand and then placed it over your heart before lifting it to your lips, kissing his knuckles before placing it over your heart again. You looked at Daryl expectantly, arching your eyebrows and waiting to see if he liked it.

Daryl looked at your hands over your heart and then brought them to his chest, placing them over his own heart before kissing your knuckles, and then back on his chest, making the butterflies in your belly flutter. He looked at you with a soft smile, nodding, and you couldn’t help your grin.

*

You were lying on the ground over a blanket, exhausted, looking at the starry sky. You were tired but content. Daryl and Rick had found a prison, a place with fences and walls, an infirmary and a canteen maybe, where you could stay, hopefully permanently. Problem was, it was full of walkers. That day you had managed to clear the perimeter of the first fence around it, so you could rest safe, and then tomorrow you all would follow Rick’s plan to clear one of the yards and cellblocks, make it your home.

You smiled when you finally noticed Daryl walking to you. He’d been taking watch with Carol, and you couldn’t rest easy without him, even if you were surrounded by fences. Daryl sat down next to you, reaching out to stroke his knuckles over your cheekbone and you nuzzled into his touch sleepily before taking his hand and pulling at him until he lied down next to you.

You snuggled to him, smiling and nuzzling into his shoulder and Daryl kissed the top of your head, searching for your hand again, squeezing it and caressing your knuckles with his thumb in that way you both did to ask if you were okay, and so you squeezed it back firmly. You were tired, and you were worried about tomorrow, but you wanted to be hopeful, and wanted to be positive for Daryl. Everything would be okay, and you would have a home.

You kissed Daryl’s lips softly before snuggling into his arms, letting sleep fall over you.

*

Daryl and you had each other back, as always, pretty literally this time, as you fought back to back, putting down walker after walker, making sure to stick next to each other and that none of the walkers there could catch you by surprise. There were lots of them and with gear like helmets, but between you all, you managed to put them all down, getting the yard and cellblock for yourselves.

You let yourself fall onto the ground, exhausted, smiling as you saw Beth running around the yard, celebrating, before letting your head fall down as you regained your breath, arms resting over your knees. You felt hands on your shoulders, Daryl’s hands, rubbing softly before he knelt in front of you.

“Okay?” He signed and you nodded, smiling. He smiled back, reaching to cup your cheek and leaning in to peck your lips, and you pulled him closer to kiss him properly. Once he got up, he reached out his hand for you to take, and helped you up, walking you both into the cellblock. Now it was time to clean it and get it ready, but it seemed you’d have not only a room and a bed this night, but also a home. You could barely believe it.

*

You had thought that when Daryl had said he was sleeping in no cage, taking the perch, he was joking, but it didn’t seem like so. He was still there, in spite of everyone having gone to their cells already, besides T-Dog, who was taking first watch, and you hadn’t managed to get him to join you in the cell. You let out a frustrated sigh and gave up, deciding to just join him in the perch.

You didn’t want to give up sleeping in a mattress after all those months on the ground, and so you grabbed it and tried to drag the thing. You were struggling to drag it through the door when you felt a hand on your shoulder and you found Daryl frowning at you.

“What you doing?” He signed.

“Sleep,” You signed and pointed to the mattress and then waved towards the perch, stubborn, before pointing at Daryl. “Because you are stubborn.”

Daryl rolled his eyes but signed an okay, although he didn’t help you to drag the mattress through the door, instead taking it back to the cell. “Wait,” he signed before you could ask anything. He left the cell and when he came back, he was carrying all the stuff that he had left on the perch, dumping it onto the floor of the cell.

You grinned, happy to have both a bed and Daryl, letting yourself fall down on the mattress. You noticed Daryl making sure the door of the cell couldn’t get closed, and you wondered if there might be something behind it and behind him being reluctant to sleep in there. You decided not to ask and let him tell you himself if he wanted to, whenever he felt like it.

You reached out your hand, pulling at him when he took it and lying down on the bed. Daryl lied next to you on the small cot and you crawled over him to lie on his chest. You smiled at him, pecking his lips before reaching out to turn off the lantern. Once you were back lying on Daryl’s chest, you took his hand, pressing it against your chest before bringing it up to your lips, telling him that you loved him. He did the same before wrapping his arm around you, playing with your hair, and you let yourself finally relax and fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter was all fluff, which is what I like most in the world. Please, if you have time and liked this, let me know your thoughts!
> 
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's mild smut in this chapter.

As you woke up, you were confused for a moment, wondering why Daryl and you were lying on something quite soft instead of the hard ground, until you smiled remembering where you were, the prison, your cell, in the bed with Daryl.

The cot was rather small, certainly not for two people, Daryl and you had to squeeze together, but you didn’t mind it in the least. Daryl and you had slept curled up together night after night while you traveled, keeping each other warm and comforted, but not like this, not alone, and the intimacy that now you could enjoy had you smiling like an idiot. 

You both had fallen asleep faster and easier than you’d ever done in all your months on the run. When you woke up, the dim light of the sunrise was starting to filter through the bars of the cell, and you were still curled up together like you’d fallen asleep. Daryl always woke up before you, but he was still fast asleep, and you were certain he’d needed the rest, so you tried not to move so he could keep sleeping for as long as he needed it. 

Eventually, you felt him stir as he woke up and then he began nuzzling into your neck. You giggled when he tickled you, and you felt Daryl smiling against the skin of your neck. You knew that sometimes you laughed aloud, even though you couldn’t hear it, and that Daryl really seemed to like it when you did. 

You reached to take his hand, squeezing it and pressing it to your heart before bringing it up kiss his knuckles. He did the same, pulling back his hand still holding yours to kiss your own knuckles, that private way you told each other ‘I love you’. He pulled back to look at you, still smiling, and you reached up to caress his cheek with your knuckles. He looked so beautiful. You didn’t think you’d ever seen him looking so content and relaxed, and you loved it. You leaned up to kiss his lips and soon you were pulling him to you to deepen the kiss, realizing once again that you were alone in that cell, no reason to feel shy about the others being around. 

Daryl’s hips sank onto yours as he kissed you back and you felt something light in your belly. With everyone always around, you two had only been alone when you went out hunting, and then you both had been preoccupied with other things and on alert so walkers wouldn’t sneak on you, so being intimate like that hadn’t really been a thing between you two. Too many other things to worry about, too many other people around. 

But now you had the semi-privacy of having your own cell, and as you felt Daryl’s body over yours as you kissed him, you realized how much you wanted him. You weren’t sure if you made a sound or not when you moaned into the kiss, you didn’t care, as you pressed your leg against Daryl’s side, trying to push him even closer to you, one of your hands gripping at his shoulder when his hips pressed harder against yours. 

Daryl pulled away to look down at you, hovering over you, seeming a bit unsure and hesitant. You weren’t sure if he wanted you as you wanted him or not, and you bit your lip, unsure about how to ask, how to tell him what you wanted, suddenly shy about it. Then Daryl nodded, though, as if he understood you anyway, and his lips went back to yours. 

Without breaking the kiss, you reached down to take his hand and guided it inside your shirt. At first, Daryl didn’t move it, but then he began to tentatively run his hand over your skin, his fingers creating goosebumps as he caressed you softly, lifting your shirt as he went until it tangled above your ribs. 

You pulled away from him just enough to sit up and take off your shirt, since it seemed Daryl wasn’t going to, throwing it to the floor and lying down onto the pillow again, pulling Daryl to you. 

He looked down at you, his fingers softly trailing over your exposed skin, and your body arched towards him. He kissed your collarbone and then shifted lower on the bed, kissing your sternum and trailing kisses down to your belly. You must have let out some sound, because Daryl looked up at you smirking before he kept kissing your navel, making you gasp and writhe. 

He kissed his way back up to your chest, mouthing at your breasts, and you bit your lips to stifle the moan that you knew you were going to let out, you didn’t want to be loud, afraid the others could hear you, but it wasn’t like you could really control it, and when Daryl began kissing and nibbling at your neck, you knew it was probably a lost cause. 

You wanted to feel more of him so you began unbuttoning his shirt and opening it. You ran your hands over the warm skin of his stomach and up to his chest, smiling when you felt him shiver under your palms, and you pushed his shirt down his shoulders. 

Daryl let his shirt fall and then leaned down to kiss you again. You felt his hand caressing over your thigh tentatively and you reached down to grab the hem of the shorts you slept in, lifting your hips off the bed to push them down your legs as far as you could. You nudged Daryl with your knee, trying to get him to help you undress. He looked down at your body, making you blush, but didn’t move, and you noticed him swallowing hard before he slid your shorts all the way down your legs. 

He still seemed hesitant in a way and you watched his face intently, trying to read him, wanting to be sure he wanted you like that too, afraid of being pushing him. You stroked his cheek and cupped his face to make him look back at your face, and you signed to him if he was okay. He nodded and you lifted your eyebrows at him, your way of asking him if he was sure. He nodded again, smiling softly, mouthing a yes and leaning down to kiss your lips. 

His hand was at your thigh again, caressing it gently, and you reached down to place it over his and guide it to brush over your inner thigh and up between your legs. When his fingers stroked you, you gasped against his lips, and when you let go of his hand and he kept moving it on his own, you couldn’t care about the sounds you might or might not be letting out, but when you felt yourself crying out as you reached your peak, you brought your hand up to your mouth to bite the back of it, trying to muffle the sounds. 

Panting, you opened your eyes, you didn’t know when you had closed them, and looked at Daryl with a blissed-out smile. He was caressing your side softly, looking down at you as in awe, but he smiled when he looked at your face, and you guessed it reflected how you were feeling. 

You pulled Daryl closer, holding him to you, your fingers caressing his back lazily. When you felt you had recovered your breath, you pushed at him gently until he was lying down on his back with you over him. You straddled him, sitting up and smiling as you looked at him lying under you, running your hands over his chest, caressing down to his belly. He was so beautiful you didn’t even know where to start. 

You went for his neck, mouthing kisses and nibbling your way up to his earlobe as his hand began to stroke your back with shaky fingers. You trailed kisses down to his chest, feeling him writhe under your lips and hands, and your hips began rocking against his on their own accord. You get lost in the feeling, closing your eyes and feeling a low moan vibrate in your throat, fire lighting inside your belly again. 

You opened your eyes when you felt his fingers biting into the flesh of your waist and you leaned over to kiss his chest and moved down on the bed so you could unbutton his pants. You looked at him, raising your eyebrows, asking again if it was okay, and when he nodded you tugged at his pants until you pulled them down his legs, leaving him as naked as you were. 

You shifted to straddle him again, rocking your hips down onto his again, and smiling when Daryl’s hands went to your waits to pull you down onto him. When you finally sank down onto him, you were pretty sure you moaned aloud again, but the last thing you could do at that moment was to worry about someone maybe hearing you. 

Daryl sat up to wrap his arms around you, burying his head on your neck where you could feel him pressing kisses and panting against your skin. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, clinging to him, everything around you forgotten as you lost yourself in him. 

Afterward, you lied half over his board chest, snuggling to him, his arm wrapped around, pulling you tight to him. You felt Daryl’s fingers caressing your arm and then he took your hand, squeezing it softly and brushing his thumb over yours in the way you both did to ask each other if they were okay. You nodded, looking up at him with a happy grin on your face. He lifted your hand to his chest, resting it on above his heart for a second before bringing it up to kiss your knuckles, and you brought it to your lips to kiss his too before resting your head on his chest again. Daryl’s fingers began to stroke your hair and you hummed, you couldn’t remember the last time you had felt that content. 

You could have stayed like that for hours and hours, but soon you felt Daryl moving under you as if he wanted to get up. You made a sound of complaint, snuggling even closer, and you felt his chest vibrate when he chuckled. He kissed the top of your head and began trying to sit up again. You pulled back to look at him and pouted. Daryl smiled softly, brushing his knuckles over your cheekbone before kissing your lips. 

Daryl sat up with you still on his lap and nodded towards the door of the cell. You frowned, unsure of what he meant. ‘Others awake. Work to do.’ He signed and you nodded, you guessed he could hear the others already awake, and you knew he was right, but that didn’t mean you felt like untangling from him and getting up. 

You let out a sigh, wrapping your arms around Daryl and holding him tight to you briefly. You kissed his lips and let him go, and you began to get ready too. It was time you all went to try and clear more of the prison and make it a home.

*

You didn’t know how everything could have gone so wrong in just a few days. You had cleared more of the prison, found the infirmary, found the canteen…and found more people, albeit criminals who had been in that prison, and Daryl and you didn’t agree on what to do with them.

But then…Hershel had been bitten and he had lost a leg, and then…then you’d lost T-Dog and Carol, devoured by walkers, and Lori, giving birth to her baby. It was all so horrible and you still were trying to process it, but you were doing your best to be strong for Daryl. All those losses had hit him hard, you knew, especially losing his best friend.

Rick…Rick wasn’t doing good, not at all. He was devastated, he was broken, and he wasn’t letting anyone help, isolating himself, almost as if he went going crazy. You didn’t know how to help, you guessed he needed time, but you were worried.

Without Rick there, people to mourn, and a baby to take care of, Daryl had stepped in as a leader almost, despite his own pain, and you were so proud of him. He’d been the first one to feed the baby, and you would have never imagined that he’d look so right with a baby in his arms…despite everything that had happened, when you saw him and the baby, you felt overwhelmed by the love you felt, your heart seeming to grow by moments.

It was when he was finally alone in your cell with you, that he showed how much everything had affected him, letting you hold him to you, your arms wrapped around him as he buried his face on your chest, letting himself finally cry while you caressed his hair.

When you woke up that time, Daryl wasn’t with you on the bed, and you went looking for him, following the light that came from the hall you all used as some son of living-room. You found him there, sat down and cuddling the baby. You guessed she might have woke up and Daryl was trying to let Beth, who was always babysitting, rest for a while.

A smile tugged at your lips at the sight and you approached them, leaning to kiss Daryl’s shoulder before sitting down next to him. He looked at you, giving you a sad smile, leaning to kiss your forehead softly. The baby was awake but calm in his arms.

“You’re so good at this…with babies.” You signed and Daryl shrugged, but a smile tugged at his lip when he looked down at her. You felt your heart melt again, and you leaned closer to rest your head on his shoulder.

You ended up dozing off there, waking up half an hour later, confused, until you realized you were still lying against Daryl’s arm. The baby was peacefully asleep on his arms, and you smiled, nudging Daryl’s arm with your head so he’d look at you. “Sleep,” you signed, pointing from him to the cells, he needed the rest.

Daryl seemed reluctant, but he seemed tired too, really tired, and so he finally nodded. He got up and you followed him as he went to Beth’s cell, silently and carefully placing the baby on the makeshift crib without waking any of the girls. You reached out your hand to him, walking together to your cell.

You lied down on the bed and Daryl lied next to you, throwing his arm over you and resting his head on your chest. You wrapped an arm around him and looked for his hand, squeezing it gently and then caressing his knuckles, asking him if he was okay, to which he just shrugged. It hurt your heart to know that he was so sad, while trying to stay strong for everyone else.

Carol’s death had saddened you deeply and you were still in shock, but you knew that it had hurt Daryl harder than anyone else. He was hurting and there was nothing you could do about it. You hated it. You kissed the top of his head and played with his hair, holding him tighter when you noticed he’d started crying, face hidden in your shoulder.

You wished you could give him some sort of comfort, you hoped you could help, just being there with him, holding him to you and caressing his hair, until he finally fell asleep, exhausted.

*

You kind of hoped the surprises would end soon, because you felt you were going from one shock to another, but if all the surprises were like this, then you wouldn’t complain. Carol was alive, you didn’t know how, it seemed like a miracle to you.

Seeing Daryl walking into the cellblock with an exhausted-looking, but quite alive Carol in his arms, it had almost looked like he’d gone down to hell or up to heaven to take her and carry her back home. You could just look at them, eyes open wide, mouth hanging open, you didn’t even know what to say, until you finally rushed to greet Carol.

“How?” You signed to Daryl while Hershel checked Carol, assuring you both that she was just starved and dehydrated, but she’d be okay once she’d rested. Daryl signed she’d been trapped in a closet and he’d heard her. Poor Carol…that must have been so terrifying, and it was such a luck that Daryl had found her before she went without water and food for too long…

You took your notebook, and wrote down “ _Hero_.” You weren’t sure if Daryl knew that sign, and you pointed from it to Daryl, who began blushing and shrugging, turning all so adorably flustered, and so you decided to tease him a bit more. _“I want you to carry me like a princess too.”_ You wrote down, giggling, and you were pretty sure Daryl scoffed, but then he was smirking.

You leaned closer to hug him and you kissed his lips softly when he hugged you back. You gasped when suddenly his hands were in your waist, holding you and lifting you up. You wrapped your legs around his waist, surprised, giggling again, and Daryl smiled at you even though he seemed shy.

He pecked your lips and before you knew it he was maneuvering you in his arms until he was holding you bridal style, like you had wanted. You felt a bit silly, but you couldn’t help your smile, wrapping your arms around his neck better and kissing his cheek. He smiled too as he began walking you both to your cell, but he suddenly stopped midway, dropping you to the floor though making sure to steady you so you wouldn’t fall.

You were shocked and confused, but as you followed his gaze you saw Rick yelling something at him, before running back to the hall. “What’s going on?” You signed to Daryl, confused and worried.

“Found someone.” Daryl signed back, and you both rushed to follow Rick.

Rick and Carl had found a woman at the fence, wounded, carrying the baby supplies that Maggie and Glenn had gone to find, and saying that both of them had been kidnapped and were now in a place called Woodbury, led by a man called the Governor, not a good man. Or that’s what you could gather from what Daryl rushed to sign and write to you while people talked, before rushing to get everything ready to go.

“I’m going,” you signed to Daryl, stopping in front of him with your bag, knife and gun ready.

“Dangerous,” he signed back.

“I’m going,” you signed again, and you could see him letting out a sigh, but then he nodded, placing a hand on your shoulder, walking you both to the car, ready to head to Woodbury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was fluff, but then shit happened.  
> Please, if you have time and liked this, let me know your thoughts!  
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


	7. Chapter 7

You didn’t know when or how you could have lost Daryl. Everything had gone good enough, you all had sneaked into the place, which seemed like some sort of town, surprising you, and had found Maggie and Glenn, beaten but okay. Glenn had said something to Daryl, something you didn’t catch, something that had seemed to shaken Daryl, but he didn’t sign it to you, and there was no time, you all getting busted by the people of Woodbury, everything turning into a mess of bullets, and you all tried to rush out.

You were almost out when you noticed that Daryl wasn’t with you anymore. You backtracked without nobody from your group noticing it, and went looking for Daryl. You tried to stay hidden, so nobody from Woodbury would notice you. You were doing a good job, until you felt a hand over your mouth, another over your eyes, and suddenly someone was tugging at you. You tried to struggle, but you felt a knock in your head, and everything turned black.

When you woke up, you were in a room, tied up to a chair. You struggled against your restraints, but they were too tight, and you only managed to almost fall down off the chair. You were still struggling when a man walked into the room. He asked you something that you didn’t catch and so you just looked at him. He did it again and still you couldn’t read his lips properly. Your silence seemed to anger him and he got on your face, but the angrier he got, the harder it was for you to understand what he was yelling.

Before you knew what was happening, he’d slapped you hard with the back of his hand. You gasped, shock hitting you before the pain. The man asked again, slapping you once more when you didn’t say anything, and you tasted blood, feeling your lip burn. Another ask, another hard slap, and you felt tears in your eyes but remained silent. The man kicked the chair, almost making you fall, and then he left the room.

You didn’t know how long you spent there, feeling blood dropping of your lip, until another man walked in, this one wearing a bandage over an eye. He asked something again and you were so frustrated at not understanding and expecting to be hit again, that you couldn’t help your tears, head hanging low. You felt a hand gripping your chin, forcing you to look at the man, who asked again, and you just looked at him confused, closing your eyes as you felt more tears, letting your head hang again.

The blow didn’t come, but you still didn’t open your eyes, didn’t look up, until you felt a hand rummaging in your pocket, startling you, and the man took the notebook that peeked out of your pocket. He went through it and you couldn’t help but struggle again, wanting to snitch it from his hands, you didn’t want him reading your things. You felt so powerless you just felt like crying again, but instead you growled, though the man didn’t pay you any attention, until he took the pen and wrote in a blank page, “ _Deaf?”_

You nodded, glaring at the man as you shook. He approached, holding your chin again, his thumb brushing near your split lip, and you shook your head away from his touch. “ _Sorry.”_ He wrote and you just looked at him while he began writing again. “ _The prison. Your people. How many? Weapons?”_

You scoffed. So that’s what they wanted…then it didn’t matter if they wrote it or not, you weren’t going to say anything, you got the idea of what they wanted to do to your friends, so you just stared at the man. He took a knife out and you swallowed hard, but you tried to stay strong as he approached you.

To your surprise, he cut the restraint of one of your hands, though you knew better than to try anything with him still holding the knife while you were still tied to the chair. He pushed the pen into your hand, placed the notebook on the table in front of you, and pointed at his question, waiting for you to answer.

Looking at him, you threw the pen away. You thought you had made your point clear. The man looked at you for a moment before turning away, saying something to the other man and leaving the room. The other man picked up the pen you had thrown and placed it next to you on the table, pointing at the notebook.

You took the pen to throw it again, your tears of fear and pain mixing with tears of anger now, but before you could through it, the man grabbed your wrist hard, twisting it painfully until you heard something crack and you cried out in pain, feeling your wrist on fire.

The man just pointed at the notebook again, and you didn’t know if you’d be able to write with your wrist like that, but you weren’t going to anyway. Another slap had your lip feeling on fire again, but you still didn’t take the pen, and the man left the room.

You spent a while alone there, you didn’t know how long, feeling your lip burning, pain shooting through your wrist. You wondered what the men might do with you, once they give up on trying to get information from you. Would they kill you? You guessed so.

Had they gotten Daryl too? Were they questioning him? He wouldn’t talk either, you knew…would they kill him? Maybe they had killed him already? No…no…no, he was okay, he had to be, sure he’d found another way out…Daryl had to be alive. He was going to be so hurt when he found you’d been stupid enough to get captured and killed…you hated to hurt him like that…if only you could see him once more…

The door opened again and the man with the bandage over his eye walked in again. He approached you, holding your wrist, and you let out a whimper.

You didn’t know what you were expecting, but it wasn’t to have your restrains cut. You couldn’t have hope on him letting you go, and you wondered where he might take you now, if maybe he wanted to kill you somewhere else. You couldn’t be more shocked when he pushed you, throwing you against the table, and you almost landed on your face.

The man was behind you, pushing you against the table, and it wasn’t until you felt your shirt being cut and ripped of you that you realized what he was going to do. You grunted as you began to struggle, but the man squeezed your injuried wrist and you cried out, almost fainting as you fell against the table again, hitting your cheek on the hardwood.

You felt his hips pushing against yours and you whimpered as he hit you against the table. You thought he was going to kill you, not this. You felt him grabbing your hair and he yanked your head up, his other hand guiding yours to take the pen. No, you weren’t going to write anything, you weren’t going to tell that man anything.

You closed your eyes and let yourself fall against the table, hoping that the dizziness you felt every time that a new wave of pain shoot through your wrist would make you pass out. The man didn’t do anything, though. He yanked you up and pushed you onto the chair, tying you up again, and he left the room without even looking at you.

After a short while alone there, the other man walked into the room, this time with a tied up walker with him. So this was then, how they were going to kill you. You knew this was coming, and yet, you felt yourself shaking, so scared that you could barely breathe as the man approached, the walker snapping at you.

Yet, when the man pointed at the question on the notebook, you stayed strong, you weren’t going to say anything, he could kill you already. The man held the walker’s hair, pushing him so close to your face, you didn’t think you had ever been so close to a walker, and you whimpered when it snapped, so close to your face. You hoped it’d kill you fast.

Then, though, the walker was pushed back as the man turned around. You guessed he’d heard something, and as the walker was pushed away from your face you tried to look to the side, finding the door open and…and Daryl, Daryl was there, crossbow aimed in front of him. Was this real?

Before the man could do anything, Daryl had shot the bolt, and the man dropped dead to the ground. The walker fell with him, still snapping and near you, and you kicked at it as best as you could while you were still tied to the chair, trying not to let it grab you, but Daryl was rushing to help, sinking his knife into the head of the walker and kneeling in front of you.

He looked at you for a few seconds and you could just look at him, feeling tears in your eyes again. Daryl kicked himself into action, cutting your restraints, and you threw yourself to him, falling onto your knees as you wrapped your arms around him, unable to stop your sobs while Daryl held you tight, tighter than anyone had ever held you.

Daryl pulled away from you, looking urgently at the door, and you hoped he hadn’t heard anything, but you knew you needed to leave before any men of the Governor came. You made to get up and when Daryl went to help you, holding your hands, you couldn’t help your cry as it made your wrist move painfully. Daryl looked at you, shocked, before he seemed to realize what had happened, gently taking your wrist to examine it, but there was no time.

“Hurry,” you tried to sign just with your good hand, looking anxiously at the door and Daryl nodded, helping you up carefully. He didn’t move, though, instead he took off his vest and you looked at him confused before he placed it over you, carefully helping you get your hurting arms through the sleeve holes. Oh… Right… They had cut your shirt and take it off you… You felt like crying again, while Daryl rushed to button the vest. Once he was done, you went to take your notebook and pen but Daryl did it for you, helping you push it inside your trouser pocket, before wrapping an arm around you and rushing you both out of the room.

You trusted that Daryl knew what was he doing and where was he going, and you let him guide you, hoping you were moving as silent as possible. Soon, though, you bumped into a man who was looking around, his back to you. Daryl didn’t stop, though, didn’t try to hide, just walked right to him and you stopped, panicking. Daryl noticed and he signed for him to the man before signing “brother.”

You were totally dumbfounded and could just stare at Daryl, eyes wide. But his brother… He had lost him in Atlanta, you knew. You were beyond confused, but Daryl was still walking you both fast to the man… Daryl’s bother. Merle, you remembered just now the name.

The man looked at you up and down, and you didn’t know what to think, before saying something to Daryl. They went back and forth for some seconds before you three began walking away, following Merle, away from Woodbury you hoped.

You three managed to leave the place without anyone seeing you, getting into the woods, walking and walking, and Daryl didn’t make you both stop until you were deep inside the woods.

As soon as you stopped, the brothers began going back and forth again, and you could see them getting angrier and angrier. You gasped when you saw Merle pushing Daryl, and him pushing him back, and you rushed to them, getting in the middle, but Daryl reached to put you to the side. You were afraid him and his brother were going to fight, but he wrapped his arm around you, tugging you to his side, and he barked something to his brother, gesturing around, before walking with you and helping you sit down with your back against a tree.

He knelt in front of you, looking at you worriedly and brushing his knuckles over your face ever so softly, looking at your split lip, and you wondered how you looked. He gently took your wrist to examine it, frowning. “Broken", you signed as best as you could and he nodded.

Before you could do anything, he’d ripped a piece of the end of his shirt and wrapped it around your wrist. You winced, but once he was done, it felt better. “Hershel”, Daryl signed, and you nodded, he’d fix you. Which reminded you…

“Knows about the prison”, you signed as best as possible, wincing, before pointing towards Woodbury, he might not have gotten any info from you, but you were sure he was planning an attack, you needed to rush back home. Daryl nodded but he frowned as he looked back to his brother, who had a frown of his own while he looked at you both. You tugged at Daryl’s hand to get his attention and signed “what?”

Daryl chewed on his lip before taking your notebook, writing down, “ _He doesn’t want to go. They don’t want him there. He was with the governor. Beat Glenn so he’d tell him where the prison is.”_ You gaped at Daryl as you read. Damn. You had heard things about Merle here and there but…Damn.

“What are we going to do?” You signed, wincing as it made your wrist hurt.

“Go home”, Daryl signed back, looking determined, before ripping another piece of his shirt to carefully dab at the blood of your split lip, mouthing a sorry when you winced. “Wait”, he signed at you once he was done.

He strode towards his brother and they began angrily arguing again, though at least nobody was hitting or pushing anybody, before he made his way back to you.

“Ready?” He signed, and you nodded. “Sure?” He was still looking at you with worry and you nodded, reaching out your good hand so he’d help you up. He pulled you to him and kissed your forehead, and you had to remind yourself that you needed to help your friends so you wouldn’t wrap your arms around him and hold to him forever. Wrapping his arm around you, he began walking without looking back, but you did and noticed that Merle had decided to follow Daryl too.

As always, you trusted Daryl to keep you both safe and to know his way back to the prison through the woods. As you walked, you noticed Daryl stealing glances at you, your brushed face and split lip, at you wearing only his vest…you knew he was wondering what had happened to you, but he was stopping himself from asking and you were grateful. There were more urgent things to do, and you didn’t want to talk about it.

As you got closer to the prison, Daryl seemed agitated. “Shots,” he signed to you. “With me,” he signed as he always did when there was trouble ahead and you both didn’t want to get separated. You nodded and Daryl held your good hand tight as you both began running towards the prison, Merle behind you both.

Everything was a mess, not only the Governor’s men were shooting at your people, but there were also walkers everywhere, getting inside the prison…you were horrified to spot Rick outside the fences, being cornered by them, and you tugged at Daryl’s hand urgently, pointing at Rick so he’d see it.

Daryl let go of your hand, quickly getting his crossbow ready and you did the same with your gun, and you saw Merle just gleefully charging at them with that knife he had attached to his missing hand. Daryl’s brother was…you didn’t even know what to say.

Once the walkers were cleared, you all rushed inside the yard of the prison, but the men of the Governor were already gone and the others had cleared the prison. They rushed to you, asking you if you were okay, but soon everything was a mess again as they began fighting about Merle. You didn’t need to understand his words to know.

You wanted to be supportive of Daryl, of course you did, you wanted to help him and stand with him but you were thoroughly done with the day, exhausted, hurting everywhere, and you were very aware of being wearing only Daryl’s vest, and so you sneaked away. You noticed Daryl’s eye on you, though, and you hoped he understood…

You walked into your cell and dropped onto the bed, and you felt like crying. Suddenly you felt a hand on your shoulder and you jumped a bit until you realized it was Hershel, who probably had come to check on you, judging by the supplies from the infirmary he had taken with him.

You showed him your wrist and he confirmed it was broken, but he did some bandage for it that looked quite professional, considering your limited resources, and assured you it’d get better. Once he made sure you were alright beyond some bruises and your split lip, he left you alone.

You took a rag and a bottle of water, and began washing yourself, finally looking at your face in the mirror. Some cuts, some bruises, but Hershel was right, you’d be okay. Still you felt like crying. You put on a shirt and then put on Daryl’s vest over it, it comforted you.

You considered going to check on him and this whole Merle mess, but you found yourself just sitting on the bed again, leaning against the wall and hugging your knees to your chest. You didn’t realize Maggie had walked inside the cell until she was standing in front of you.

“Sorry,” she signed once she had your attention. “Can I come in?” You nodded and she sat down next to you, though for a while she didn’t sign anything else, until she reached out for the notebook. “ _The Governor interrogated me. Made me take off my shirt and bra. Pushed me against a table, leaned behind me._ ” She wrote down, hand shaking, and then she looked at you, so you took the notebook, swallowing hard.

“ _Bent me on the table, cut off my shirt. Nothing else, he left when I wrote nothing._ ” You wrote down, and you were relieved when Maggie took the pen to underlain the “nothing else”, nodding. You felt quite shaken, humiliated, but you knew it could have been even worse. You reached to hold Maggie’s hand and she squeezed it back as you both leaned into each other.

You were still like that when Daryl walked into the cell, looking tired, stressed and upset, and he just looked even more worried when he saw Maggie and you like that. Maggie let go of your hand and got up, signing you a “see you” before leaving Daryl and you alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost at the end of the fic.  
> Please, if you liked this and have a moment, let me know yout thoughts.  
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


	8. Chapter 8

You looked at Daryl as he sat down next to you, reaching out to cup your face, looking at you before leaning to kiss your forehead and then your lips softly, hesitant as if he weren’t sure you wanted it, and so you wrapped your arms around him, kissing him, not caring about the sting in your wound. When he pulled back, he held his forehead to yours for a while until he moved back, looking at you with worry. You knew he wanted to ask what had happened, but you also knew he wouldn’t pressure you talk. You cupped his face, stroking his cheekbones with your thumbs. He looked so worn out and stressed…

“Your brother?” You signed, realizing that you should come up with a sign for Merle, and wincing again at your wrist, and you could see Daryl letting out a sigh.

“Locked,” he signed before taking the notebook to write down. “ _They don’t trust him. Don’t want him here. I understand. But he’s my brother.”_ Daryl shrugged as you read, looking like he didn’t know what to do and so tired… You reached to stroke his hair, leaning to kiss his cheek.

“It’ll be okay,” you signed to him as best as you could, even though you weren’t sure how you all were going to fix this governor mess and Merle’s situation. Daryl gave you a tiny half smile, but he still looked sad.

“You okay?” He signed and you nodded. He reached out to hold your good hand, stroking your knuckles, glancing at you from time to time. You took a deep breath and decided that if you were going to talk about it with someone besides Maggie, then it was Daryl, and so you reached for the notebook.

“ _The Governor wanted to know things about us and so he sent a man to ask me questions, hit me when I didn’t answer_.” You struggled to write, first trying not to move your injured wrist much, then with your other hand, slow and clumsily, and hoping that Daryl would understand your bad handwriting. You waited for him to read it, taking a rest, before you kept writing. You could see his hand twitching but he let you keep going before doing anything.

“ _Then the Governor came and he pushed me onto the table, cut my shirt off, but he left when I did nothing. Then the other men with the walker, when you saved me.”_ You felt like crying again, the memories replaying in your head as you wrote it all, painfully slow, as you were not used to writing with that hand.

Daryl was looking at the notebook, not saying anything, but his hands were shaking as he closed them into fists. He looked at you, then at the notebook, and then he got up, pacing around the room, still not saying anything to you. “ _Don’t do anything stupid_.” You wrote, just in case, holding it in front of Daryl.

You could see him shaking, but he nodded, sitting down next to you again, and you reached out to stroke his hair away from his face with your good hand. Daryl held your hand, pressing it to his chest before kissing your knuckles. “I’m sorry,” he signed to you.

“It’s okay,” you signed and Daryl shook his head, pacing around again, so you reached for him when he walked closer, grabbing his shirt and tugging at him. “Not your fault.” You signed.

Daryl just shook his head again, but he stopped pacing and sat down next to you, reaching out for your notebook. “ _Thought you were with the others, safe. I’m sorry_.” You sighed, you really wished Daryl wouldn’t blame himself about this. You were too tired to argue, though, so you just shook your head and took the notebook and pen from his hand, reaching to leave it on the small nightstand table, and kissing Daryl’s cheek on the way.

“Tired,” you signed, pushing at Daryl to lie down on the bed. He let you do and you shrugged off his vest, placing it carefully at the end of the bed, before removing his boots and socks. Then you snuggled next to him, tugging at the sheets to cover you both.

You rested your head on his chest and Daryl wrapped an arm around you and began to stroke your hair. Slowly, you let yourself relax, feeling his heartbeat and his chest rising and falling.

*

You stood in the watchtower, anxiously scanning the road ahead as you waited for the car with Daryl, Rick, and Hershel to come back.

Andrea, a woman who seemed to have been in the group before and had been Michonne’s friend but who now was with the Governor had shown up, saying she wanted to help and that she’d get a meeting ready with the Governor.

It had caused quite an argument, but finally Rick had agreed, and so now, he, Daryl and Hershel were off to that meeting, and you couldn’t help how worried you were about it.

You let out a relieved breath when finally you saw the bike and the car driving back, getting inside the fences, and Daryl and the others getting out and seeming okay, albeit serious.

You waved at Daryl, hoping he’d notice you, and when he did he made his way up to you. You reached out to hold his hand and arched your eyebrows at him, you wanted to know what had happened.

Daryl just shrugged, letting go of your hand to lean over the railing, chewing on his lip. Had it gone wrong then? But the Governor hadn’t attacked them… You didn’t know what to think and you tugged at Daryl’s hand insistently, you needed to know. Daryl seemed reluctant, but finally he took your notebook and pen.

“ _Governor offers a deal, he leaves us alone if we give him Michonne. Rick wants to keep it secret for now._ ”

You frowned, you didn’t like that at all. Maybe you didn’t know Michonne that much, but she seemed good and she’d been helping, besides, you wouldn’t give anyone to that man to do who knew what to them. There must be something else you all could do.

“I don’t like it.” You signed and Daryl nodded.

“Me neither,” Daryl signed back. “Rick’ll think something.” You guessed you had to hope he did. “Gotta see Merle” Daryl signed and you nodded, you still had to take watch. Daryl leaned to kiss your lips softly and off he was, still looking stressed… You really hoped everything would get better soon…

*

Things were from bad to worse. Michonne had disappeared, along with Merle, and there was the strong suspicion of Merle having heard about the Governor’s deal and decided to take matters into his own hands. Daryl had gone out to find them and you were dying of worry waiting for him to come back.

It got worse when Michonne came back by her own foot, looking beaten, and she confirmed Merle had taken her but had changed his mind and let her go, but he had gone against the governor’s men by himself, it seemed.

You had to wait for a while until Daryl rode back, alone. You didn’t need to ask. He shared some words with Rick, though you could see he didn’t want to, and then he was rushing away from everyone. He looked at you, that way he did to check on you, but he didn’t approach you, he kept walking into the prison.

You followed him, quietly, you hoped. You’d give him time alone, he needed it, but you wanted to check he wasn’t getting into trouble or too close to the walkers that still were trapped in some parts of the prison. He stopped in some corridors, pacing around, kicking the wall.

You hated seeing him hurting like that and you wanted to go to him, but you knew he needs his time. Hoping he wouldn’t hurt himself, you quietly slipped away. You didn’t go to the others, letting them make whatever plans they wanted, your mind was in Daryl, and so you went to your cell.

You had to wait a long while, but finally Daryl walked in. He glanced at you before dropping his gaze down, just standing there, and so you reached out for him, grabbing his vest and pulling him closer to you. Daryl just let himself fall down onto his knees in front of you, wrapping his arms around your middle and burying his head on your chest.

You let him cry while you stroke his hair softly, holding him to you, but you didn’t want him to be just there on the floor, and so eventually you pulled back, cupping his face to kiss his tear-stained cheeks, even if he tried to hide from you, and then his lips, softly. You took his hands and pulled him up to sit down with you on the bed, realizing that the knuckles of one of his hands were bleeding as if he’d punched a wall.

It was killing you, seeing Daryl broken like this, and you didn’t know how to help. You reached out for the bottle of water and took the rag that Daryl usually had in his back pocket. Pouring some water on it, you began to carefully clean his knuckles.

Once you were done, you placed a soft kiss on the back of his hand, looking at him, but Daryl was looking down, seeming so broken, you hated it. Without letting go of his hand, you scooted up on the bed to lie down and Daryl followed you, curling up with you and resting his head on your chest. You wrapped your arms around him, holding him as he shook, kissing the top of his head before running your fingers through his hair.

It was a long while until Daryl stopped shaking, and once he did, he reached out to grab your notebook and pen, though he kept himself curled up to you. “ _Was a walker. Had to put him down.”_ You had guessed Merle had died, but you hadn’t imagined that Daryl must have had to do something like that. You couldn’t imagine how he might be feeling, and it was killing you.

You took the notebook, but you didn’t know what to say, and so you just placed it on the nightstand table and lied down next to Daryl, wrapping your arm around him. Daryl snuggled to you, head hidden on your shoulder, and you felt him crying again. You stroke his hair again, hoping to comfort him somehow, and when eventually you felt him falling asleep, exhausted, you didn’t let go of your tight hold on him.

*

You weren’t too sure about Rick’s plan, but it wasn’t like you had anything better. The idea was to empty the prison as if you had left, wait for the Governor’s men and then attack them by surprise. It could work, but you didn’t like that you had been left out of it, since your right wrist was still healing. You still thought you could shoot, but you had grown tired of trying to argue with Rick and Daryl over notebook and signing, it made your wrist hurt, which was just proving their point, and so you had given up.

Daryl knew you were upset, though, had tried to tell you that you would be protecting Judith, Beth and Carl along with Carol and Hershel, and yeah, you guessed he was right, but still, you couldn’t help how bad you wished you were there, worried out of your mind, especially when Carl let you know that shots could be heard.

Once Hershel announced that the shooting stopped, you walked back purposely towards the prison, the others following you. Relieved, you looked around and saw that all your friends were okay, before running to Daryl, wrapping your arms around him as he caught you.

You pulled back to look at him, arching your eyebrows, and he nodded. Everything was okay, it had worked. Daryl let you of you so he could sign “gotta go,” he waved from him to Rick and Michonne, “follow the Governor. Finish.” You pointed at yourself and Daryl shook his head as he pointed at your wrist. You let out an unhappy noise, huffing, but nodded. Daryl cupped your face and kissed your lips, and okay, maybe you couldn’t be upset then.

“Be careful,” you signed, already worrying even if he hadn’t left and Daryl nodded, taking some seconds to quickly hold your good hand, pressing it to his heart before lifting it to kiss your knuckles.

“Love you too,” you signed, feeling a lump in your throat. Daryl gave you a small smile, and off he was.

*

You felt like all you were doing lately was anxiously wait for Daryl to be back to you safe, as you were once again on the watchtower, scanning the horizon, waiting, waiting… When you finally saw him, you couldn’t be more dumbfounded. He was riding on his bike, that much was normal, but he was leading what seemed to be a couple of school buses.

What in the world…and there were people inside…You rushed down the watchtower and to Daryl, right when he was dismounting. You didn’t even know what to ask, and so you just looked at the people who were getting off the buses, seeming as lost and confused as you, while Rick and Michonne began talking to them and the rest of your group joined them.

Daryl followed your gaze and nodded, taking your notebook. “ _Woodbury people. Governor went mad, killed his own people. They’re scared. Rick told them we’d take them in.”_

Well, damn. Just when you thought the Governor couldn’t get worse. You glanced at the people suspiciously, you couldn’t help yourself, but they truly looked lost and scared…you guessed the Governor had fooled them. Rick and the others were starting to walk them to a cellblock, and so you guessed it was okay.

“Governor?” You signed to Daryl.

“Gone.” He signed back, and you nodded. Good. More than good.

Once all that was clear, you wrapped your arms around Daryl and he held you back, sweeping you off your feet for a few seconds, making you giggle. You smiled at him before kissing him, humming when he cupped your face as he kissed you back.

When Daryl pulled back, he rested his forehead against yours for a moment, before nodding towards the cellblock. Yeah…there was a lot to do, people to help, things to sort…sneaking another kiss, you took Daryl’s hand and walked with him to the cellblock.

*

You fell down onto the bed with a groan, exhausted after spending the last few hours introducing yourself to the new people, calming their fear, helping them settle down, and then helping Carol and Daryl feed everyone.

You smiled as you thought on Daryl and the few scared kids that had come from Woodbury. Daryl had taken his time to check they were okay, and to make sure they weren’t scared and knew they were safe. You couldn’t believe how good he was with kids, how much kids seemed to like him, and how much Daryl seemed to like them back, surprisingly enough.

Cute scenes aside, though, you were exhausted. Getting the cellblocks ready for the people had required quite a few time, and you still couldn’t move your wrist. Nobody knew sign language, disappointingly but not surprisingly, and so you had to write everything as better as you could with your bad wrist, or try with your other hand. They were nice, sure, but you needed some rest.

You didn’t notice Daryl walking inside the cell until the bed dipped and you felt his hands rubbing your back, making you hum and smile contently. You turned on your back to look at him, reaching out to stroke his cheek, still smiling fondly at him, before tugging at him so he’d lie down next to you.

“Okay?” He signed and you nodded.

“Tired,” you signed back, and Daryl nodded, leaning to kiss your lips before letting himself fall down next to you on the cot.

You snuggled to him, giving another fond smile and pecking his lips before lying down over his chest. His arm wrapped around you, caressing your arm softly, and you let out a content sigh.

Sure you were exhausted, and you were pretty sure that tomorrow would be another exhausting day, but you also knew how lucky you were. You had not only survived another day, but you still had a home, sturdy walls and fences that protected you from the monsters outside, and the monster of a man who had threatened that, hurt you and your friends, was gone. Your friends were safe, and so was Daryl.

Over everything, you had Daryl, whom you knew loved you, and who you loved with everything you had. You didn’t think you had felt like that before, you didn’t think there had been anyone who loved you and took care of you like Daryl did, and it was pretty crazy to think that you had found that after the apocalypse. It was worthy, though, and you were damn grateful for it.

You reached for his hand, holding it and pressing it to your heart before bringing it to your lips and kissing his knuckles. Daryl did the same, holding your hand on his over his chest, then kissing you knuckles, letting go of your hand to wrap that arm around you, nuzzling into your hair and kissing the top of your head. You let out another content sigh, smiling, letting yourself relax, until you fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are at the end!Please, if you have time and liked this, let me know your thoughts!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who supported this with kudos, and thanks to everyone who took time to comment, most times it’s the only thing that keeps me motivated to keep posting and writing, so thank you all.
> 
> I’ll start posting a new fic next week, “Claimed memories”. I wanted to ask if you want me to keep posting on Monday, or if you have any other favourite day. I was thinking about switching to Weednesday since it’s the middle of the week. Thoughts?
> 
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.

**Author's Note:**

> There we are, first chapter finished, what did you think? If you liked it and had time, leave a comment, please!
> 
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


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